Uses for the simple past :
Uses for the simple past Actions that started and finished in the past
Example: I didn't go to the beach last Sunday
Slide 3:
Actions that happened one after the other in the past (like in a story)
Example:
I went into the disco and I saw my favorite girl, then I asked her to dance,.........
Slide 4:
With the Past Continuous to refer to a short action that interrupts a longer one.
Example:
The TV broke when she was watching the football match
Duration in Past :
Duration in Past The Simple Past can be used with a duration which starts and stops in the past. A duration is often indicated by expressions such as: for two years, for five minutes, all day, all year, etc.
Examples:
I lived in Brazil for two years.
Shauna studied Japanese for five years.
They sat at the beach all day.
They did not stay at the party the entire time.
We talked on the phone for thirty minutes.
A: How long did you wait for them?B: We waited for one hour.
Habits in the Past :
Habits in the Past The Simple Past can also be used to describe a habit which stopped in the past. It can have the same meaning as "used to." To make it clear that we are talking about a habit, we often add expressions such as: always, often, usually, never, when I was a child, when I was younger, etc.
Examples:
I studied French when I was a child.
He played the violin.
He didn't play the piano.
Did you play a musical instrument when you were a kid?
She worked at the movie theater after school.
They never went to school, they always skipped class.