The simple past tense

Uses of the simple past tense

We use the simple past tense to talk about many kinds of past events: short, quickly finished actions, longer situations, and repeated events.

• I spent all my childhood in Canada.
• I visited my grandfather yesterday.
• John left 10 minutes ago.

The simple past is common in story-telling.

• Once upon a time there lived a rich man. One day, he met a beautiful princess and …

The simple past is often used with references to finished periods and time expressions.

• He died last year.
• I met her yesterday morning.