The class decided the author could have used the present perfect or the simple past.

The simple past is often close in meaning to the present perfect.

The present perfect is often used also for completed events where English would use the simple past.

It is more standard to ask questions and make negative forms using simple past.

In the remaining cases, both languages use a simple past.

The English simple past can express either of these concepts.

In the oral language, the simple past is rarely used except with story telling.

To fight the battle of the present, the young woman sent her thoughts into the simpler past.

On the other hand, when forming questions or negative sentences, simple past is better.

The first preterite can be compared with the simple past in English.

Are there any significant departures from the use of the simple past tense?

In German the simple past and the perfect tense both express the same meaning.

The simple past also has some uses in which it does not refer to a past time.

French simple past is mostly used in a narrative way to tell stories and describe successive actions.

They have some concept of the simple past, but they live triumphantly in the present.

"It's a sense of place, a reflection on a simpler past, a connection to a heritage."

However, current informal American speech tends to use the simple past: Did you eat yet?

On many big public questions, he proposes a middle course between faith in scientific progress and nostalgia for a simpler past.

The sentence she has come probably means she is here now, while the simple past she came does not.

The medical house call, once considered a relic of a simpler past, is making a comeback, according to many doctors and home care specialists.

Try to get the feel of a cruder, simpler past, and the people of long ago.

The simple past is formed with the past stem and personal endings.

The simple past is also called the preterite.

To see the difference between the simple past and the gerund when used with been, consider the following expressions:

This requires the simple past in English.