Past simple is used principally to describe events in the past, although it also has some other uses.
| Use | Example |
| 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 he/she does have one specific time in mind. | I saw a movie yesterday. I didn't see a play yesterday. Last year, I travelled to UK. |
| To list a series of completed actions in the past. These actions happen 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and so on. | 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? |
| 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. | 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. |
| 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. | I studied French when I was a child. He played the violin. He didn't play the piano. |
| To describe past facts or generalizations which are no longer true. | She was shy as a child, but now she is very outgoing. He didn't like tomatoes before. |
Sentences:
| Positive | Negative | Question |
| I waited. | I did not wait. | Did I wait? |
| You waited. | You did not wait. | Did you wait? |
| We waited. | We did not wait. | Did we wait? |
| They waited. | They did not wait. | Did they wait? |
| He waited. | He did not wait. | Did he wait? |
| She waited. | She did not wait. | Did she wait? |
| It waited. | It did not wait. | Did it wait? |
Some signal words which will help you understand that you need to use past simple:
'ago', 'in 2011', 'in 1999', 'last month', 'last week', 'last year', 'yesterday', etc.
There are some structures which will help you use past simple accurately:
| Positive | Subject + verb (-ed) / irregular verb | I jumped. I broke my leg. |
| Negative | Subject + did + not + bare infinitive Subject + was/were + not | She did not come here yesterday. She was not here yesterday. |
| Questions | Did + subject + bare infinitive Was/were + subject Question word + did + subject + verb | Did I learn English last week? Was she here yesterday? What did you do yesterday? |