We use the past simple tense for actions with common time expressions that show something happened in the past:
Examples:
- Last night my ex-boyfriend called me when he was drunk again.
- I forgot to call my girlfriend yesterday.
- The week before last I was late for work every day.
- We vacationed in the Maldives last summer.
- Did you listen to rap music in the 1990s ?
- Who did we see the other day at the party?
- I finished my homework awhile ago.
- I last had a check-up at the dentist two years ago.
