Simple past = Preteritum = Imperfect

No matter how you name it, nobody likes learning the simple past. Many reasons for that. So far you should know the simple past of “haben” (hatte), “sein” (war) and maybe “es gibt” (es gab). 

Now we learn some helping verbs (modalverbs = MV) in simple past. Why? You can say many things with that grammar AND it is easy, because the actual verb at the end stays in infinitive (same as with helping verbs in the present tense).

S + MV in simple past + (nicht, etc.) + O + […] + V

Er durfte als Kind nie Fahrrad fahren.
He was never allowed to ride a bike as a child.

Wir mussten immer um 7 Uhr aufstehen.
We always had to stand up at 7 AM. 

Keep in mind that the plain past of wollen/möchten is wollte.

Check out many more examples and review also what modalverbs are good for what situation (this is a tricky subject).

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