Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
Hi! This lesson is about the past simple. It's also called simple past.
When we use this tense the action we talk about is complete.
What we describe is over. We talk about a finished period of time.
Let's hear some examples : I woke up late yesterday. Let's put this on
a timeline. The X is when the action of waking up took place. Yesterday is a period of time
that's over. So I use the past simple. I woke up late yesterday. You can also notice that
woke up is an irregular verb. The infinitive is “wake up”.
Next example. I lived in the USA for two years. Again, if we put it on a timeline, the action
is somewhere in the past. Here we don't have an indication of “when” the situation
took place. It could be “when I was a child”, or “a long time ago”.
Notice that in this last example, “I lived in the USA for two years“, the duration
of the action, two years, is not what's important. What's important is that the action is finished
now. I don't live in the USA anymore. So I use the past simple and not another tense
like the present perfect, for instance. One last thing, remember that expressions
like “yesterday”, or “last week”, or “a month ago” are usually a good indication
that we are talking about a finished period of time. So chances are you will use the past
simple if you use these expressions. That's it for now. I hope this helps. We have
other lessons for you on our website. Don't forget to follow us on social networks get
more news. Bye!