SIMPLE
PAST
[VERB+ed] or irregular
verbs
Examples:
· You called Debbie.
· Did you call Debbie?
·
You did not call Debbie.
USE 1 Completed Action in the Past
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.
Examples:
·
I saw a movie yesterday.
·
I didn't see a play yesterday.
·
Last year, I traveled to Japan.
·
Last year, I didn't travel to Korea.
·
Did you have dinner
last night?
· She washed her
car.
·
He didn't wash his car.
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 1st, 2nd,
3rd, 4th, and so on.
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.
·
Did you add flour, pour in
the milk, and then add the eggs?
USE 3 Duration in Past
The Simple Past can be used
with a duration which starts and stops in the past. A duration is a longer
action often indicated by expressions such as: for two years, for five minutes,
all day, all year, etc.
Examples:
·
I lived in Brazil for two years.
·
Shauna studied Japanese for five years.
·
They sat at the beach all day.
·
They did not stay at the party the entire time.
·
We talked on the phone for thirty minutes.
·
A: How long did you wait for them?
B: We waited for one hour.
B: We waited for one hour.
USE 4 Habits 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 add expressions such as: always, often, usually, never, when
I was a child, when I was younger, etc.
Examples:
·
I studied French when I was a child.
· He played the
violin.
·
He didn't play the piano.
·
Did you play a
musical instrument when you were a kid?
·
She worked at the movie theater after school.
·
They never went to school, they always skipped class.
USE 5 Past Facts or Generalizations
The Simple Past can also be
used to describe past facts or generalizations which are no longer true. As in
USE 4 above, this use of the Simple Past is quite similar to the expression
"used to."
Examples:
·
She was shy as a child, but now she is very outgoing.
·
He didn't like tomatoes before.
·
Did you live in
Texas when you were a kid?
·
People paid much more to make cell phone calls in the
past.
IMPORTANT When-Clauses Happen First
Clauses are groups of words
which have meaning but are often not complete sentences. Some clauses begin
with the word "when" such as "when I dropped my pen..." or
"when class began..." These clauses are called when-clauses, and they
are very important. The examples below contain when-clauses.
Examples:
·
When I paid her one dollar, she answered my question.
·
She answered my question when I paid her one dollar.
When-clauses are important
because they always happen first when both clauses are in the Simple Past. Both
of the examples above mean the same thing: first, I paid her one dollar, and
then, she answered my question. It is not important whether "when I paid
her one dollar" is at the beginning of the sentence or at the end of the
sentence. However, the example below has a different meaning. First, she
answered my question, and then, I paid her one dollar.
Example:
ADVERB PLACEMENT
The examples below show the
placement for grammar adverbs such as: always, only, never, ever, still, just,
etc.
Examples:
· You just called
Debbie.
·
Did you just call Debbie?
ACTIVE / PASSIVE
Examples:
· Tom repaired the
car. Active
· The car was repaired by Tom. Passive
