The past simple tense (also simple past) is used for a completed action or event at a specific time in the past. It started in the past, and it also finished in the past.
Time expressions such as ‘yesterday’, ‘last night’, ‘two weeks ago’, and ‘in 1999’ are commonly used with this tense.
Completed Actions or Events
Level: Beginner
We use the simple past when we are talking about an action that started and finished at a specific time in the past. It is not always necessary to mention the specific time, but there should be a past time established in the context.
Here are some examples of sentences using the past simple tense.
I watched a movie last night.
Michelle didn’t play basketball yesterday.
Did Paul arrive five days ago?
Q: What did you eat for breakfast?
A: I had coffee.
Establish Order of Past Actions
Level: Beginner
Since we use the past simple to describe finished actions, we can describe a series of the actions and clearly communicate the order in which they happened.
I ran home, turned on my computer, and saw the great news.
The speaker ran home first, turned on the computer second, and finally saw the great news.
She took a shower, got into bed, set her alarm, and fell asleep.
The four actions described in this sentence happened in the exact order.
Duration in the Past
Level: Intermediate
The past simple can be also used to describe the duration of a past event. We can often use expressions like ‘for five days’ or ‘all day’, to express this.
Jackie studied French for three years.
Jackie started studying French at some point in the past, and continued studying for three years. She stopped studying French before now, so she no longer takes French classes.
Here are more examples in context:
Q: How long did you sleep?
A: I slept for eight hours.
It rained all day on Saturday.
Past Habits or Generalizations
Level: Intermediate
The past simple can describe past habits that no longer occur. The meaning is similar to ‘used to do’.
We signal these past habits by using expressions like ‘always’, ‘never’, usually’, ‘when I was a child’, or ‘when we were younger’.
They always listened to rock music.
They regularly listened to rock music before, but they probably do not listen to it anymore.
It never rained this much before.
It seems to rain more now than it did in the past. This is a past fact or generalization.
Here are more examples in context:
Your uncle rode the bus to school when he was a child.
People used pay phones in the past.
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