A few very common verbs build an irregular past stem: идти gives шёл and шла, мочь gives мог and могла, есть gives ел and ела. For ago, Russian puts the time first and назад after it: два дня назад.
Examples
- Вчера я был в Казани.
- Yesterday I was in Kazan.
- Два дня назад я ей позвонила.
- Two days ago I called her.
- На прошлой неделе мы шли через парк.
- Last week we were walking through the park.
The mistake to avoid
Назад comes after the time: два дня назад, not "назад два дня".
Where this fits in
Talking about the past, Russian A2: Tell stories about yesterday, last weekend, and life experiences using the past tense. Russian past tense is gendered — verbs change form for masculine/feminine speakers.