The past simple tenseA grammatical category that is marked by verb inflection. To express when an event or action happens in time or when a state exists, we use tenses. is used for actionA general term expressing that somebody or something does somethings which are completed not before, but at a point of timeA particular moment in time. E.g.: She came home at six. ("six") I was born in 1980. ("1980") in the past. This point can be stated or implied in the utteranceSomething that somebody says in a specific context. with a time expressionA word or group of words used in a particular situation. E.g.: Good morning, at six, on the sofa or a clauseA group of related words containing a subject and a verb..