Simple Past Tense

Use 1 - Completed Action in the Past
Use the Simple Past to express the idea that an action started and finished at a specific time in the past. Sometimes the speaker may not actually mention the specific time, but they do have one specific time in mind.
Examples:
I saw a movie yesterday.

She washed her car.

Use 2 - Single Duration
The Simple Past can be used with a duration which starts and stops in the past. A duration is a long action often used with expressions like "for two years," "for five minutes," "all day" or "all year."
Examples:
I lived in Brazil for two years.

We talked on the phone for thirty minutes.

Use 3 - Habit in the Past
The Simple Past can also be used to describe a habit which stopped in the past. To make it clear that we are talking about a habit we often use expressions such as "always," "often," "usually," "never," "...when I was a child" or "...when I was younger" in the sentence.
Examples:
I went to school when I was a child.

They never went to school.

Important: "When clauses" happen first
Clauses are groups of words which have meaning but are not complete sentences. Some clauses begin with the word when such as "When I dropped my pen..." or "When class began..." These clauses are called "when clauses" and they are very important. The examples below contain "when clauses."
Examples:
When I paid her one dollar, she answered my question.

She answered my question, when Ipaid her one dollar.

"When clauses" are important because they always happen first when both clauses are in the Simple Past. Both of the examples above mean the same thing. First, I paid her one dollar, and then, she answered my question. However, the example below has a different meaning. First, she answered my question, and then, I paid her a dollar.
Example:
I paid her a dollar, when she answered my question.

Forming interrogative sentences in past simple
To form an interrogative sentence in past simple tense, did auxiliary verb is put before subject.
Examples:
Did he come to your party last week?

Did he go to the cinema last night?

Forming negative sentences in past simple
While forming a negative sentence in past simple tense, before all subjects didn’t / did not auxiliary verbs are used.

Time Expressions:
yesterday
last .....
......... ago
in 2013-
in the past