Simple

When we talk about past, finished actions or events, we use the past simple tense (= прошло просто време):

I watched TV last night.

I met my friend yesterday.

Also, when we mention some past habits, we use the past simple tense:

Henry played the guitar when he was young.

Finally, when we want to point out that several, usually short, actions happened one after another, we use the past simple tense:

Sally opened her bag, took out the key and unlocked the door.

To sum up, whenever we say the time of the event (yesterday, last night / month / year, ago, in 2001), we must use the past simple tense.

As you can see, some of the verbs in the above sentences have an -ed ending (regular verbs), while others have some special past forms (irregular verbs) and should be learnt by heart.