In 1971, etc.

The sun came out a moment ago.

Miss Helstone stayed the whole evening.

Ellean breakfasted two hours ago, and then went out walking with the dog.

The Past Indefinite can correspond to the Russian past perfec­tive and past imperfective (совершенный и несовершенный вид).

Не smoked a cigarette and left the room (выкурил). He smoked in

silence for a few minutes (курил).

The translation depends on the context and the lexical char­acter of the verb.

The time of the action may be implied in the situation through the mention of the place of

the action or other attending circumstances.

I ate turnips in Germany.

Did you belong to any society at the University?

But sometimes the mention of the time or place of the action appears unnecessary because

reference is made to a particular action which is definite in the mind of the speaker and

the hearer.

Sorry! I didn’t mean to hurt you.

I slept very badly.

Note: The Simple Past, never the Present Perfect, is used in questions beginning with when, because when implies a certain moment in the past. The answer can be either in the Past Indefinite or in the Present Perfect, depending on the situation:

— When did you see him?

— I saw him two days ago.

Or: I have just seen him. (just now)

When did you actually arrive?

The Past Indefinite is also used in special questions beginning with where and how when they refer to the past events. The Present Perfect is not common here because the attention in such sentences is drawn to the circumstances of the action rather than to the occurrence itself, which means that the speaker has a defi­nite action in mind.

Where did your uncle receive his guests? " " Right here."

How did he get in? " I asked, and Evans said, " Oh, he has a key."

Where is my hat? Where did I leave my hat? "

Yet the Past Indefinite may also be found in present time context with such adverbial

modifiers of time as this morning,

Tonight,

Today, etc.

If the period is over or reference is made to a particular past point of time within that

Period

Did you see the letter in the “Times” this morning? (It is no longer morning)

In narrations to express a succession of action of past actions.

To express recurrent actions. It is generally supported by the use of adverbial modifiers

of frequency such as often,

Never

Now and again,

Sometimes

Always, etc.

You often mentioned her in your letters.

But sometimes he found his work difficult.