✍️ Past time expressions

Subject: Creative Grammar and Writing
Unit 2 — The simple past

Learning goals

By the end of this topic you can...

• recognise the most common past time expressions in English: yesterday, last night, two days ago, in 2019, when I was a child.
• build each expression with the correct pattern: last + time word, number + time word + ago, in + year.
• put the time expression in the right place in the sentence: usually at the end, sometimes at the beginning with a comma.
• use past time expressions together with the simple past, because they are a clue that tells you which tense you need.
• avoid the typical mistakes: the last week, ago two days, in yesterday.

1. What is a past time expression?

A time expression is a word or a group of words that tells you when something happened.

When the action is finished and it happened in a finished time, we use the simple past.

• I watched a movie last night.
• We visited my grandmother two weeks ago.
• She was born in 2013.

The bold words at the end (last night, two weeks ago, in 2013) are the past time expressions. They are like a signal: when you see one of them, the verb goes into the past.

Careful! The time expression does not change the verb by itself. You have to change the verb.
❌ I go to the beach last Sunday.
✅ I went to the beach last Sunday.

2. Family 1 — yesterday and the day before yesterday

Yesterday = the day before today. It is one single word, and it never takes in, on or the.

• I had rice and beans yesterday.
• Yesterday we studied for the English test.

You can also join yesterday with a part of the day:

The day before yesterday = two days before today. If today is Friday, the day before yesterday was Wednesday.

• The day before yesterday my cousin arrived from Limón.

Careful! The night is special. We say last night, never yesterday night.
❌ I finished my homework yesterday night.
✅ I finished my homework last night.

3. Family 2 — last + time word

Last means "the one immediately before now". The pattern is very short:

Examples in full sentences:

• We played volleyball last Friday.
• My family travelled to Guanacaste last summer.
• Last year Emily started seventh grade.

Careful! Never put the, in or on before last.
❌ the last week · ❌ in last summer · ❌ on last Monday
✅ last week · ✅ last summer · ✅ last Monday

4. Family 3 — ... ago

Ago means "before now". It counts back starting from today. The word ago always goes after the amount of time, never before it.

• two days ago
• a week ago / one week ago
• three months ago
• ten years ago
• five minutes ago

Examples in full sentences:

• I saw that movie three months ago.
• My dad bought the car two years ago.
• The bus left five minutes ago.

How to count

If today is Friday, then:

Careful! Ago goes at the END of the time phrase, and the time word is plural when the number is 2 or more.
❌ ago two days · ❌ two day ago · ❌ before two days
✅ two days ago

5. Family 4 — in + year, month or season

We use in with long periods of time: years, months and seasons.

• She was born in 2013.
• We moved to this house in January.
• My brother learned to swim in 2019.

Careful! Use in only with years, months and seasons. Yesterday, last week and two days ago never take a preposition.

6. Family 5 — when I was ...

This expression opens a whole sentence about a period of your life.

• when I was a child
• when I was six years old
• when I was in primary school
• when we lived in Cartago

Both verbs go into the past:

• I loved cartoons when I was a child.
• When I was six years old, I broke my arm.

Careful! When I was a child has a verb inside it, so it needs the past too.
❌ When I am a child, I played in the park.
✅ When I was a child, I played in the park.

7. Family 6 — this morning, today, tonight

These expressions can be past or present. It depends on one question: is that period of time finished?

• It is 8 p.m. → This morning I woke up late. (the morning is over → simple past)
• It is 9 a.m. and you are still in the morning → this morning is not finished yet.
• Today I forgot my notebook. ✅ (the action is already finished)

Careful! This morning only works with the simple past when that part of the day has already finished.

8. Where do these expressions go in the sentence?

There are two normal positions.

Position 1 — at the END of the sentence (the most common)

No comma.

• I visited my aunt last Sunday.
• We finished the project two days ago.
• She started guitar lessons in 2019.

Position 2 — at the BEGINNING of the sentence, followed by a comma

We do this when we want to give special importance to the time.

• Last Sunday, I visited my aunt.
• Two days ago, we finished the project.
• When I was a child, I hated vegetables.

Careful! Do not put the time expression in the middle, between the verb and its object.
❌ I visited yesterday my aunt.
✅ I visited my aunt yesterday. / ✅ Yesterday, I visited my aunt.

If a sentence has two time expressions, the smaller one usually goes first:

• We arrived at seven o'clock last night.

9. Everything in one table

Quick summary

• Past time expressions tell you when an action happened, and they are a clue that you need the simple past.
• last + time word: no the, no in, no on → last week, last summer, last Monday.
• number + time word + ago: ago always goes last → two days ago, never ago two days.
• Use in with years, months and seasons (in 2019, in July), but never with yesterday, last or ago.
• The night before today is last night, not yesterday night.
• Position: end of the sentence (no comma) or beginning of the sentence (with a comma). Never in the middle.

Key vocabulary