Past Simple

Actions in the past in narration & conversation which can be translated by verbs of совершенного or несовершенного вида depending on the context. Time is definite i.e. the speaker knows what he’s talking about.
General Time Specification:
-adv. mod: Yesterday, 2 days ago, last week, on Monday,in 1999, the other day
-sub. clause: e.g. He called when I was out.
-implied past: e.g. I bought this T-shirt in Texas. Sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you.


1.Single action performed in the past: (single contin. action may be specified by FOR, DURING)
e.g. I saw him the other day. We quarrelled for 3 days. During the match he slept.

2.Succession in narration: e.g. I opened the door and saw her.
We walked all day and arrived 2 minutes ago.

3.Repeated actions in the past: (often, never, sometimes, now and again (then), for days.) e.g. She often saw him in the street.

4.Permanent past actions:
-indicates continuous processes in the past giving a general characteristic to the person or a thing denoted by the subject
e.g. She had a large nose. The house stood on the hill. She was fond of him.

-USED TO {ju:st} – бывало (когда-то часто)
e.g. She used to give me chocolate. I used to be a sentimental guy.
Did she use to know a lot of English words?

-WOULD (= officially USED TO): e.g. She would sleep 5 hours a day. Practice!

5.Action going on at the given past moment:
-obligatory with statives : e.g. He wanted all her troubles for himself at that moment.
-with sit, stand, lie, hang, shine, gleam, talk, speak, wear, carry, walk, action as such is named not the circumstances which are more important (with inanimate things it’s a must):
e.g. She sat in the garden and listened to the birds. He wore a black uniform.
A book lay on the table.

6.Future action viewed from the past (only in reported speech)
-clauses of Time, Condition, Concession:
e.g. He knew she was determined to marry him and would, if she though it useful, lie and cheat until she brought it off.

7.Unreal Actions (Subjunctive Mood)
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Listen to Dr.Evil describing his childhood. Fill in the blanks with the verb "to be" in the Past Simple as you're listening. Pay special attention to the usage of "would" to express customary past actions.

The details of my life are quite inconsequential.... Very well, where do I begin? My father ... a relentlessly self-improving boulangerie owner from Belgium with low-grade narcolepsy and a penchant for buggery. My mother ... a 15-year-old French prostitute named Chloe with webbed feet. My father would womanize; he would drink. He would make outrageous claims like he invented the question mark. Sometimes, he would accuse chestnuts of being lazy. The sort of general malaise that only the genius possess and the insane lament... My childhood ... typical: summers in Rangoon... luge lessons... In the spring, we'd make meat helmets... When I was insolent I was placed in a burlap bag and beaten with reeds — pretty standard, really. At the age of 12, I received my first scribe. At the age of 14, a Zoroastrian named Wilma ritualistically shaved my testicles — there really is nothing like a shorn scrotum — it's breathtaking... I suggest you try it.