What is the importance of simple past tense in English language?

The simple past tense describes a completed action in the past, while the past continuous tense describes an action in progress at a specific time in the past. For example: I went to the gym yesterday. (simple past tense); I was reading when the it started raining. (past continuous).

Here is a list of some books that students can consider to cover the topic of simple past tense extensively and effectively.

The simple past tense in English, according to Oxford Learner's Dictionaries, is used to 'describe actions or events that happened at a specific time in the past and are now completed. It's often used in narratives to recount completed actions in the past.'

The 'simple past tense', according to the Cambridge Dictionary, is defined as “the form of a verb used to describe an action that happened before the present time and is no longer happening. It is usually made by adding -ed.” The Collins Dictionary defines the 'simple past tense' as “a tense used to refer to the past.” The Macmillan Dictionary defines the simple past tense as “the tense used to talk about habitual actions, behaviour, or situations that happened or existed before now.”

The simple past tense of the verb “go” is “went”. Irregular verbs like “go” don't follow a specific pattern and do not use suffix like 'ed' to be changed into simple past tense. For example, I went to the market yesterday. Went is the simple past tense word of 'go'. There is no suffix in the verb.