Past indefinite (past simple)

FORMATION:

Mike lived in London last year? – Did Jane live there too? – No, she didn’t live in Britain at that time.

Lily bought a new dress yesterday. – Did Lily buy a new coat too? – No, she didn’t buy anything else.

PAST INDEFINITE (PAST SIMPLE) IS USED:

1. For an action which happened at a definite time in the past. The time is stated, already known or implied.

They went camping by the lake last month. (When did they go camping? Last month. The time is stated.)

Where did you buy this pretty dress? (The time is implied)

2. For actions which happened immediately one after the other in the past as a succession of past actions.

First she paid the driver, then she got out of the taxi.

David got up from the table, put on his hat and left.

3. For past habits or states which are now finished. In such cases the expression used to can also be used.

Kitchens were very different a hundred years ago.

There used to be huge stoves in the middle of the kitchen heated with logs or coal.

People didn’t use to have refrigerators or freezers and used to keep their food in the larder.

4. For actions in progress with stative verbs instead of Past Continuous.

Mary was not exactly listening but she heard every word her parents were saying.

5. To make sentences sound more emphatic the auxiliary verb ‘did’ is used in affirmative sentences,

Boris did come to see us off yesterday though he had thought he wouldn’t be able to. = Борис все-таки прийшов провести нас вчора, хоча вважав, що не зможе цього зробити.

6. For future actions in adverbial clauses of time and condition according to the sequence of tenses.

Trisha promised to come the next day if nothing unexpected happened.

I asked my sister to call me as soon as she came home.

7. Questions to the subject are asked without the auxiliary verb ‘did’ and with the direct order of words, e.g.

Who came to your birthday party on Saturday? – Derek and Simon did.

8. The past simple is used with the following time expressions (adverbial modifiers of time):

• last + night/ week/ month/year/ century/ Tuesday

• in 1997/in spring/ winter/ summer/ autumn

• three days/ weeks/ years + ago

• yesterday/ the day before yesterday

• then

• the other day

• When …? Where …? How long ago...?

• when/ after/ before + subordinate clause of time

• for a time; once upon a time

Russian/Ukrainian students tend to confuse Past Indefinite and Present Perfect. The table given below may help you to avoid making mistakes in the use of these two tenses.

Remember that the use of tense forms in English always depends upon the situation.

• What cannot help? – Translation into your native language can either help you choose the right tense or let you down as there are fewer tense forms in Russian or Ukrainian than in English.

• What can help? – adverbial modifiers of time and context.

• How? – adverbial modifiers of time can be either reliable markers or unreliable.