The Past Simple Tense is used to refer to actions that were completed in a time period before the present time.
In the Simple Past the process of performing the action is not important. What matters is that the action was completed in the past. The action may have been in the recent past or a long time ago.
So let’s start learning the Simple Past Tense – one of the most common tenses in spoken English – and the points to pay attention to.
Using the Simple Past Tense
- The Simple Past is used for actions that started and finished at a specific time in the past. It’s also possible to use the simple past in a sentence without specifying a time, but it must have previously been made clear that the speaker is referring to a finished period.
I saw a movie last week.
- The Simple Past is used to describe several actions that were completed in the past.
I finished work, walked to the beach and met my friends.
- The Simple Past is used to describe a process that started and finished in the past. In this case, the process of the action is long and is used by specifying time periods such as ‘the whole year’ or ‘all day’.
I lived in Italy for five years.
- The Simple Past can also be used in sentences that describe past habits. These sentences have the same purpose as the expression ‘used to’. It should be clear in this kind of sentence that the action referred to is a habit. Time expressions like always, often, usually and never can be used to underline this.
I often played football when I was a young man.
