Past Tense (definition)

this tense refers to an action that happened before the phrase was said or written. Languages sometimes make reference to whether the action is completed and if it is in the recent or distant pass. This can be seen in English by the add-on of auxiliary verbs (I walked. Vs. I have walked.) and adverbials (ex. The other day, last month).

References

Crystal, David. A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics. The language library. Oxford, UK: Blackwell, 1997.