PAST SIMPLE

Past simple Forms: talked, paid, went, came. Questions and negatives are made with did and the infinitive: Positive statement Mary went They talked. Negative statement They didn't talk. Mary didn't go. Positive Question Did they talk? Did Mary go? Negative Question Didn't they talk? Didn't Mary go? We basically use the past simple to refer to events in past time that are considered as completed (compare past continuous) and without a specific consequence in present time (compare present perfect). We can use the past simple to talk about a single short event or action, e.g.: My father died in 1989. (Mi padre murió en el año 1989.) Compare: My father was dying. (Mi padre se estaba muriendo.)Susan went to live in Canada 10 years ago. (Susan fue a vivir a Canadá hace 10 años.) Compare: Susan has lived in Canada for 10 years. (Hace 10 años que Susan vive en Canadá.) Susan has lived in Canada since 1994. (Susan vive en Canadá desde 1994.)We didn't go to bed until after midnight. (No nos fuímos a la cama hasta después de medianoche.)It's two months since I saw Peter. (Hace dos meses que no veo a Peter.)Jack finished his degree three years ago. (Jack acabó la carrera hace tres años.)For a comparison of ago with for and since, see ago, since, for, during. We can use the past simple to talk about a series of events or actions, e.g.: As a child, I always walked to school. (De pequeña, siempre iba a la escuela caminando.)Last year Mary played tennis almost every weekend. (El año pasado Mary jugaba a tenis casi cada fin de semana.) Compare: One day, when Mary was playing tennis, she broke her racket. (Un día, cuando Mary jugaba a tenis, rompió la raqueta.)We can use the past simple to talk about a long event, e.g.: Last Saturday it rained all morning. (El sábado pasado llovió toda la mañana.) Compare: At 10 o'clock it wasn't raining. (A las tres no llovía.) Was it raining when you went out? (¿Llovía cuando saliste?) In all these cases, the events or actions are considered as complete. As distinct from Catalan, English uses the past simple for recent (but complete) actions, e.g.: A: (Algo ininteligible.) B: Sorry, what did you say? (Perdona, ¿qué has dicho?)English also uses the past simple for events during the day when the relevant part of the day is finished, e.g.: (At 12 o'clock) What did you have for breakfast (today)? (¿Qué has tomado para desayunar (hoy)?)I finished work at half past five today. (Hoy he acabado de trabajar a las cinco y media.)Notice that a past tense, not a perfect, is obligatory when we refer to the past using a Time Adverbial, e.g.:A: When did they come? (¿Cuándo vinieron o han venido?) B: They came last year/yesterday/10 years ago/ last September/in 1999 / this morning/five minutes ago. (Vinieron el año pasado/ayer/hace 10 años/el setiembre pasado. Han venido esta mañana / hace cinco minutos.)Notice also the use of last (= the last time) and first (= the first time) with the past simple, e.g.: Tim first met Carolyn on holiday. (Tim conoció a Carolyn por primera vez durante unas vacaciones.)We last went to the theatre over a year ago. (La última vez que fuímos al teatro fue hace un año.)In reference to a person's achievements (and without a time adverbial), if we use the past simple, the implication is that the person is dead, e.g.: Mary Proctor wrote three novels and many short stories. (Mary Proctor escribió tres novelas y muchos cuentos.) Compare: Sally Jennings has written three novels and many short stories. (This implies that Sally Jennings is still alive.) We also use the past simple in conditional sentences. See second conditional. See also the use of simple forms with stative verbs. Compare with the present perfect simple, the past continuous and past perfect.

Nueva Página