Simple Past

Simple Past

USE 1 Completed Action in the Past

We use the Simple Past to express the idea that an action started and finished at a specific time in the past. Sometimes the speaker may not actually mention the specific time, but they do have one specific time in mind.

USE 2 A Series of Completed Actions

We use the Simple Past to list a series of completed actions in the past. These actions happen

EXAMPLES:

I finished work, walked to the beach, and found a nice place to swim.

He arrived from the airport at 8:00, checked into the hotel at 9:00, and met the others at 10:00.

USE 3 Single Duration

The Simple Past can be used with a duration which starts and stops in the past. A duration is a long action often used with expressions like "for two years," "for five minutes," "all day" or "all year."

EXAMPLES:

I lived in Brazil for two years.

Shauna studied Japanese for five years.

USE 4 Habit in the Past 

The Simple Past can also be used to describe a habit which stopped in the past. It can have the same meaning as "used to". To make it clear that we are talking about a habit we often use expressions such as "always," "often," "usually," "never," "...when I was a child" or "...when I was younger" in the sentence.

EXAMPLES:

I studied French when I was a child.

He played the violin.