Use the Past Simple for a finished action or situation at a time you can name, or one that's clear from the context: I called her yesterday. We lived in Iași in 2015. Form: verb + -ed or the irregular past form, with did for questions and negatives.
I called her yesterday.
One dot at a finished time in the past. You can say when, and the story is over.
| Positive | I worked. · She went. |
|---|---|
| Negative | I didn't work. · She didn't go. |
| Question | Did you work? · Did she go? |
After did and didn't, use the base verb: Did she go?, not Did she went?
I sent the report on Monday.
The time is named, or both people know it.
She opened the door, looked around and left.
One finished action after another. Each one moves the story forward.
When I was a child, I walked to school.
Something that was true for a while but has finished. Used to works here too.
Words that often go with this tense. They're hints, not rules.
We _____ to Rome in 2019.
Other past tenses: Past Continuous, Past Perfect, Past Perfect Continuous.
Paste an email or an essay. Clarigram marks the mistakes you actually make, shows the rule behind each one as a picture, and builds your practice from them.
There's no rule, so it's worth learning the common ones first: be, have, do, go, get, make, see, take, come, know, think, say. Regular verbs just add -ed.
No. If the time is clear from the context, the Past Simple is still right: Did you enjoy the film? (the one you saw last night).
Both can describe past habits: I walked / used to walk to school. Used to stresses that it's no longer true. For a single action, only the Past Simple works.