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 visited my friends.
He ran last year.
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 movie yesterday.
Last year, I traveled to Japan.
Last year, I didn't travel to Japan.
She washed her car.
She didn't wash her car.
USE 2 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.
They sat at the beach all day.
We talked on the phone for thirty minutes.
How long did you wait for them?
We waited for one hour.
USE 3 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.
She worked at the movie theater after school.
They never went to school, they always skipped.
