Video shows what past historic tense means. A tense used in some languages (such as French and Italian) in narrative, and in spoken language primarily when reading narrative, for completed actions in the past or in speaking of the dead. It is the same as the simple past in many languages, including English.. Past historic tense Meaning. How to pronounce, definition audio dictionary. How to say past historic tense. Powered by MaryTTS, Wiktionary