We use the Past Simple to talk about actions and states which we see as completed in the past.
We use it talk about specific point in time.
- She came back last Friday.
- I saw her in the street.
- They didn't agree to the deal.
It can also used to talk about a period of time.
- She lived in New York for seven years.
- They were in London from Monday to Thursday of last week.
- When I was living in New York, I went to all the art exhibitions I could.
You will often find the past simple used with the time expressions such as these:
- yesterday
- three weeks ago
- last year
- in 2002
- from March to June
- for a long time
- for 6 weeks
- in the 1980s
- in the last century
- in the past
