ELISA ENGLISH's Blog 英語園地

The Simple Past Tense (簡單過去式)

1.  Events and actions happened in the past.  A specific point in time in the past (a year ago). 

2.  Actions began in the past and completed in the past.  Over a period of time in the past (specifying duration in the past).  Sometimes, the specific time might not be explicitly mentioned, but it is implicit or implied.

3.  Past facts and generalization (no longer true in the present)

4.  A habitual or repetitive action or event happened and stopped in the past.

5.  Story-telling.

For example:

1.  Tom showed up at my house last night.

1.  She stayed up late to work on her project.

1.  I just realized that I forgot to lock the door. 

** By the way, it is grammatically accurate to use past simple with the adverbs "just", "never", "ever", "still", and etc.

1.  Mary got married at 10am today.  (It is 7pm now when I state the event.)

2.  I lived in France for the past two years.  (I no longer live in France)

2.  We waited in line for two hours to get into the store for the Black Friday Sales.

2.  For two and a half hours, Jimmy was just completely exhausted from the marathon training.

3.  Pluto was a planet but not anymore.

4.  I used to play racquetball.  (I no longer play it any more).

4.  Peter often auditioned for the role of “Peter Pan” when he was a kid.

4.  My son wouldn’t eat pineapple until I forced him one day.  (Now, it is his favorite fruit.)

5.  Heathcliff, the main character in the story of “Wuthering Heights”, was rather innocent and pitiful. 

** By the way, it is grammatically accurate to use past simple with the adverbs "just", "never", "ever", "still", and etc.

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