Past time phrases can be confusing for ESL learners as there are so many! We use them to say when something happened in the past and they are always used with the Past Simple. They include expressions such as in 2019, last week, one month ago, on Monday, etc., In English, there are numerous ways to sequence events in the past, but in this blog, we will keep it simple and highlight some of the more common ones and how they are used.
AGO
We use AGO to talk about how far back in the past something happened, and we also place it at the end of the sentence as in the following examples:
He retired six months AGO
She lived in London ten years AGO
Where were you five minutes AGO?
She had an accident on her bike two days AGO
Note: the day before yesterday = two days AGO
LAST
We use LAST to say the day, week, month, etc., that is most recent or nearest to the present time. LAST always goes before the noun as shown in the following:
I saw Mary LAST Friday = the Friday before now
We use LAST with days, (LAST Friday) months, (LAST May) seasons, (LAST Winter) and in these phrases: LAST night, LAST week, LAST weekend, LAST month, LAST year, LAST century
Notes:
We say LAST night but yesterday morning/afternoon/ evening not LAST morning, etc
We do not use a preposition with LAST or YESTERDAY:
LAST weekend not in LAST weekend. Yesterday evening not at Yesterday evening
ON
We can use ON with days to mean LAST:
I rang her ON Friday = I rang her LAST Friday
IN
We use IN with years (IN 2018) and months (IN January):
I got a promotion IN 2018
It snowed IN December
IN THE
We use IN THE with decades (IN THE eighties) and centuries (IN THE sixteenth century):
U2 became famous IN THE eighties
Henry V111 reigned IN THE sixteenth century