Using the past simple
Read about how to make the past simple tense here.
Download this explanation in PDF here.
Finished actions, states or habits in the past.
1: We use it with finished actions, states or habits in the past when we have a finished time word (yesterday, last week, at 2 o'clock, in 2003).
- I went to the cinema yesterday.
- We spent a lot of time in Japan in 2007.
- Leonardo painted the Mona Lisa.
- The Vikings invaded Britain.
- I've hurt my leg. I fell off a ladder when I was painting my bedroom.
- I've been on holiday. I went to Spain and Portugal.
- He went to a café. People were chatting and music was playing. He sat down and ordered a coffee.
5: We use the past simple to talk about things that are not real in the present or future. So we use it with the second conditional and after words like 'wish'.
- If I won the lottery, I would buy a house.
- I wish I had more time!