1.2 What did you do last weekend?

Icono IDevice Listening activity

The Past Simple tense is, obviously, used to talk about the past. Have a look at the following video!


According to the speaker what is the difference between "this weekend" and "last weekend"?


The speaker asks the listener to talk about completed actions in the past, which is one of the main uses of the Simple Past tense. It refers to actions that started and finished in the past. Quite frequently the speaker mentions when the action took place, and if the speaker does not mention it, surely s/he has it in mind. Other uses of the Simple Past tense are:

By ecstaticist. C. Commons

1. A series of completed actions. Here if the subject of all the actions coincide, it isn't necessary to repeat it.

e.g.: Paco had a soft drink in the bar of the hotel, went to his room, and went to bed.

2. Duration in the past. It is also used to refer to longer actions that started and stopped in the past.

e.g. Paco stayed in the United States for two weeks.

3. Habits in the past. When we express habits in the past we may also use the verb used to, and we frequently add how frequently the action occurred: every day, twice a week, often, etc.

e.g. Paco and his friends went out (used to go out) on Saturday evenings.

4. Past facts, generalizations and situations. The Past Simple tense is also used to refer to actions that were or weren't true in the past but aren't or are true now. Once again, this use is similar to the use of the verb used to which will be studied below.

e.g. Paco didn't like (didn't use to like) English before.1

1 The former (didn't like) is more frequently used.

Icono IDevice Further knowledge

Watch this video to remember another common use of the Past Simple tense included in the list above.

 

 

Here you can find a different way of studying the main uses of the Past Simple tense, and by clicking here you will be able to see if you have understood it properly.


Icono de IDevice de pregunta Pregunta de Elección Múltiple

Decide what the following sentences are used for.

By wstera2. C. Commons

1. I was 13 years old and a very forgetful boy.

  
a. Duration
b. A completed action in the past
c. A situation

2. The coach got very angry and made me play barefoot.
  
a. A completed action in the past
b. A past habit
c. A past generalization

3. The sports facilities didn't include changing rooms.
  
a. A completed action in the past
b. Duration
c. A situation

Icono IDevice Speaking Activity
By Roy's World. C. Commons

 

The woman in the video asked a question: What did you do last weekend?


Answer the question in your own words, record it and send it to your tutor. If you have any doubts, click below.

 

 



As you may guess, one of the main uses of the Past Simple tense is to narrate events in the past. This is what the man in the documentary did on TV. He told us his experience when he was a child. And this will be very useful whenever you want to tell everything you did or happened to you in the past. Let's go on to next section to briefly compare this tense with the Present Simple. It's very easy!
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