What does pretérito indefinido mean?

Question

what does pretérito indefinido mean

Answer 1

Janice:

It is more commonly referred to as "pretérito simple". However, you are correct that it used to be referred to (and still is to a degree) as "pretérito indefinido".

That being said, I see nothing definite about the "indefinite past."

I went dancing. "Salí a bailar".

When did I go dancing? I can say this if I went dancing yesterday. I can say this if I went dancing last week... last year. I don't see much of a concrete time frame there.

¿Cuándo salí yo a bailar? Vale para ayer. Vale para la semana pasada, vale para el año pasado. No veo que defina mucho el momento de la acción del verbo.

Nice explanation. I was thinking along the lines of "pertérito" is most definitely past! :-) completely, absolutely, done! However, you provide another way to look at this - and grammarians must see it this way. - Janice, Jan 30, 2011

Thank you. - Janice, Jan 30, 2011

Answer 2

It sure seems odd that grammarians call this tense "indefinido"...

indefinido, -a adjective 1. indefinite (ilimitado) (tiempo); open-ended (contrato) 2. vague (impreciso) 3. indefinite (grammar)

I wonder why?

Answer 3

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