We use the past simple to talk about actions and states which we see as completed in the past.

- We can use it to talk about a 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 be used to talk about a period of time.

She lived in Tokyo 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 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