Word.ws English Dictionary

preterite-present verbs

preterite-present verbs is the plural of preterite-present verb.

Meaning of preterite-present verb

Noun

preterite-present verb (plural preterite-present verbs)

  1. A type of verb specific to Germanic languages in which the forms of the present tense resemble the forms normally found in the preterite (or past) tense of strong verbs. In modern English these are principally can, may, shall, will; one can also include the other verbs that do not (or not always) take -s in the third-person singular: dare, must, need, ought. The only non-modal preterite-present verb is an archaic verb wit.

Questions about preterite-present verbs

What is preterite-present verbs the plural of?
Preterite-present verbs is the plural of preterite-present verb.

Words near preterite-present verbs in the dictionary

  1. preterital
  2. preterite
  3. preterite tense
  4. preterite-present
  5. preterite-present verb
  6. preterite-present verbs
  7. preterite-presents
  8. preteriteness
  9. preterites
  10. preterition
  11. preteritions

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: preterite-present verbs (page history and authors); preterite-present verb (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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