Telling a short story about your day is one of the most common things people do at home. Yet learners often say "Did you went?" or "When I cooked, the phone was ringing," with the tenses swapped. Some languages have one past form for everything, so a direct translation loses the background and the main event. In this episode: • The simple past: what happened • The past continuous: setting the scene • Used to and would: old habits • Irregular verbs americans actually say • Scene: what happened today? • Practice • Self-check questions with answers Key phrases from this episode: I made coffee, fed the dog and left — three finished actions We watched a movie last night — finished, with a past time Leo broke a glass — one finished event Did you call Grandma? (DIJ-uh) — did you I didn't see your message — I did not I was making dinner when the power went out — background, then event We were watching TV when Mrs. Lee knocked — background, then event The kids were playing outside all afternoon — an ongoing scene While I was folding laundry, the cat jumped in the basket — "while" sets the scene So, I was making... — "So" is how many home stories begin (casual) I used to walk to school — I don't now We used to have a dog — a past state She didn't use to like spinach — now she does Did you use to live here? — a question about the past Every summer, we would visit Grandma — repeated action Dad would sing in the car — a repeated memory get, got, gotten — Americans say "It's gotten cold," not "It's got cold" I've gotten better at cooking — I am better now than before bring, brought — I brought snacks (BRAWT) Season 2 · Real American English: the complete spoken course for learners worldwide — accent, everyday grammar, prepositions, articles, phrasal verbs, idioms, slang and real conversations at home. Listen, repeat out loud, then take the 52-question quiz. Audio voiced with AI from an original script by Dr. Rashmi R Nair.