Signal words for the Simple Past

What are signal words for the Simple Past?

These words tell you what tense you have to use. For the Simple Past these are expressions of time in the past.

  • yesterday
  • last week
  • a month ago
  • in 2010
  • this morning

Here are some examples:

  • What did you do in your last holidays?
  • His parents married in 2004.
  • I didn't text my friend yesterday.
  • Did you miss the bus this morning?