Past Tense Simple Exercises

1. Put in the verbs in brackets into the gaps. Use the Simple Past. Watch the punctuation and form sentences or questions. Example: ____ she ____ the Internet? (to surf) Answer: Did she surf the Internet?

1) I 2) 3) They

my Maths homework yesterday. (to do) Susan to England by plane? (to go)

a farm twoo weeks ago. (to visit) their brother. (not/to help) at home last weekend. (not/to be) you this wonderful skirt? (to design) into the van. (not/to crash) the mudguards of their bicycles. (to take off) you your aunt last week? (to phone) milk at school. (not/to drink)

4) Jenny and Peggy 5) The children 6) When 7) My mother 8) The boys 9) 10) He

2. Put in the verbs in brackets into the gaps. Watch the punctuation and form sentences or questions. Example: The children ______ their sandwiches. (to forget) Answer: The children forgot their sandwiches on Monday.

1) When 2) We 3) What 4) He 5) Mandy 6) share) (to be) 7) I 8) Frank

you in London? (to be) in a flat when we were in Paris. (not/to live) you yesterday? (to lose)

magic tricks at the party. (not/to do) her room on Thursday. (not/to tidy up) a room with Henry when they in Rome? (to

Physics at school. (not/to like) the shop assistant 10 percent off the price? (to take)

9) She 10) Why

the correct word in the exercise. (to use) the baby this morning? (to cry)

3. Put the correct forms of the verbs into the gaps. Use the Simple Past in the statements. Example: I ______ to the teacher. (to talk) Answer: I talked to the teacher.

1) Jane 2) He 3) They 4) John and Amy 5) I 6) Susan 7) The boys 8) We 9) She 10) The car

a film. (to watch) a box. (to carry) their father. (to help) things. (to swap)

to Andrew. (to talk) with Peter. (to dance) basketball. (to try) a trip. (to plan) her hair. (to wash) at the traffic lights. (to stop)

4. Put the correct forms of the verbs into the gaps. Use the Simple Past in the statements. Example: She ______ her mother in the kitchen. (to help) Answer: She helped her mother in the kitchen.

1) They 2) Last summer I 3) She 4) He 5) Our cat

something to drink. (to order) to Stuttgart. (to go) her homework in the afternoon. (to do) to 10. (to count) a big mouse. (to catch) a trip to Norwich. (to make) really nice. (to be) the file yesterday. (to delete)

6) In 2001 our class 7) The weather 8) The secretary

9) Paul 10) The people

nothing to me. (to say) something to each other. (to whisper)

5. Put in the correct verb form into the gap. Use Simple Past. Example: ___ they ______ their friends? (to meet) Answer: Did they meet their friends?

1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 8) 9) 10)

you Claire he the boy Ronald

the door? (to close) the housework? (to finish) a bath yesterday? (to have) into the lake? (to jump) the Tower of London? (to visit) after the baby? (to look)

Peggy and Olivia she the girl Tim they

the invitation cards herself? (to make) the ketchup bottle? (to drop) the green T-shirt last Monday? (to buy) karate this morning? (to practise)

6. Negate the first sentence in each task. Write the negation of the verbs in bold into the correct gaps. You can use long or short/contracted forms of the auxiliary.

Example: Tom wrote a letter. - Tom ______________ a letter.

Answer: Tom wrote a letter. - Tom did not write a letter. or Tom didn't write a letter.

1) He played handball. - He .......... handball. 2) Susan waited in the kitchen. - Susan ...................in the kitchen. 3) I made the beds. - I ............... the beds. 4) They cleaned the classroom. - They .................. the classroom. 5) She asked a lot of questions. - She ....................a lot of questions. 6) The friends got new computers. - The friends ................ new computers. 7) I was in Sofia last weekend. - I ........... in Sofia last weekend. 8) You built a house. - You ............a house. 9) Christian bought a new guitar. - Christian ............ a new guitar. 10) We went shopping. - We .............shopping. 7. Negate the first sentence in each task. Write the negation of the verbs in bold into the correct gaps. You can use long or short (contracted) forms of the auxiliary.

Example: Jack wrote a text message. - Jack ______________ a text message.

Answer: Jack wrote a text message. - Jack did not write a text message. or Jack didn't write a text message.

1) Andy bought a new shirt. - Andy a new shirt. 2) They went shopping last Friday. - They shopping last Friday. 3) She had a bath in the morning. - She a bath in the morning.

4) We felt like a big ice-cream. - We like a big ice-cream. 5) The students sat down. - The students down. 6) Marie ran home. - Marie home. 7) The managers shook hands on the deal. - The managers hands on the deal. 8) William rode a horse. - William a horse. 9) The nurse took Peter's temperature. - The nurse Peter's temperature. 10) I understood what the teacher said. - I what the teacher said. 8. Change the verbs in the following sentence into past tense.

1. Yesterday, I go to the restaurant with a client.

2. We drive around the parking lot for 20 minutes in order to find a parking space.

3. When we arrive at the restaurant, the place is full.

4. The waitress asks us if we have reservations.

5. I say, "No, my secretary forgets to make them."

6. The waitress tells us to come back in two hours.

7. My client and I slowly walk back to the car.

8. Then we see a small grocery store.

9. We stop in the grocery store and buy some sandwiches.

10. That is better than waiting for two hours.

9. Correct the mistakes in the following sentences:

1. Last night, Samantha have pizza for supper.

2. My pet lizard was died last month.

3. Yesterday I spend two hours cleaning my living room.

4. This morning before coming to class, Jack eats two bowls of cereal.

5. What was happened to your leg?

SIMPLE PAST TENSE Exercises

I.

Put the verbs in brackets into the Simple Past Tense:

a) My grandfather had a nice life. When he was young, he_______________ ( live) on a farm in the country. He______________ ( look) after the cows. When he was eighteen, he went to the University where he _______________ ( study) Geography. He _____________ (play) the piano in a band. When the war ______________ (start) he _______________ (try) to join the Army, but he _____________ (end) up in the Navy. When his ship sank, only five men ______________ (escape). They _______________ (sail) in a lifeboat back to England. There, my grandfather met my grandmother and they _____________ (marry) after three weeks. He says that he ____________ ( want) to marry her quickly in case he ____________ (die) in the war.

b) Tom ____________ (visit) his friends Mary and Mark last weekend. It ____________ (be) Marys birthday on Sunday, but they ________________ (celebrate) it on Saturday night. They _____________ ( stay) at the disco until one oclock in the morning. Mary _____________ ( enjoy) it. She _____________ (dance) all night! On Sunday, Tom and his friends _____________ ( be) tired. They _____________ (stay) in bed until 11 oclock. In the afternoon, they ______________ (walk) in the park. But it was cold and rainy, so they ______________ (walk) home again and _____________ (watch) a video.

c) Dear Jane, I ____________ (try) to phone you yesterday, but you ________________ ( not be) in the house, so I am writing this letter to you. Last weekend I ____________ ( visit) my cousin. It ______________ (rain) all day on Saturday, so we _____________ (stay) in and _____________ (watch) TV. The films ____________ (be) OK, but I ______________ (want) to be outside! On Sunday, the weather _____________ (be) great. We _____________ (play) tennis all afternoon and ______________ (enjoy) ourselves. I _____________ (miss) my train. I _____________ (arrive) at the station at 9 oclock and my train ___________ (be) at 8.30.

II. Every letter has a number. Solve the exercise then write the correct letter under the corresponding number. 1. Be careful! There are verbs that end with a letter which changes in the Simple Past! 2. Pronounce the verb liked. Is the last sound /t/, /d/ or /id/? 3. If a verb ends with this letter, we add only the letter d in the Simple Past. 4. Write the missing letter: as_ed. 5. Put the verb star into the Simple Past. Which letter is doubled? 6. Think of a 4 letter regular verb that rhymes with mall then write its vowel. 7. The letter y changes into ____ if there is a consonant before it. 8. This word is used with the Simple Past: ag_. Write the missing letter. 9. Which word is the opposite of tomorrow and is used with the Simple Past? Write its second letter. 10. Think of a verb that rhymes with swallow then write its first letter. 11. Write the missing letter: wal_ed. 12. Think of a verb that rhymes with stay then write its first letter. 13. The Simple Past forms of this verb are was/were. Write its first letter. 14. Write the missing letter: liste_ed. 15. Write the missing letter: He was so funny! I _miled! 16. Write the missing letter: st_died. 17. Translate a privi into English then write the letter which appears twice. 18. Think of the opposite of cry then write its last letter. 19. Write the missing letter: tri_d.

1 8

1 4

1 1

1 3

1 0

1 7

1 6

1 5

1 2

1 9

6 4

1. He (walk) to school yesterday.

He ..........to school yesterday.

2. They (do) their homework last night.

They ............their homework last night.

3. You (are) lazy last week.

You .......... lazy week.

4. That woman (buy) a new book this morning.

That woman ..........a new book this morning.

5. The janitor (clean) the blackboard yesterday.

The janitor ........... the blackboard yesterday.

6. My mother (cook) food yesterday.

My mother ...........food yesterday.

7. This morning my teacher (teach) English.

This morning ............my teacher English.

8. I (am) hungry yesterday.

I ..........hungry yesterday.

9. The gardener (cut) the trees last month.

The gardener .............the trees last month.

10. She (drink) milk this morning.

She .............milk this morning.

11. Last month the man (ride) a horse.

Last month the man ............a horse.

12. Sakda (go) to Hong Kong last year.

Sakda ........to Hong Kong last year.

13. The birds (fly) in the sky this morning.

The birds ..........in the sky this morning.

14. I (know) Tom's house last year.

I ...........Tom's house last year.

15. The joiner (make) tables and chairs yesterday.

The joiner ............tables and chairs yesterday.

16. The farmer (grow) rice last year.

The farmer ...............rice last year.

17. Two weeks ago the boy (has) a new bicycle.

Two weeks ago the boy .............a new bicycle.

18. He (feel) happy yesterday.

He ............... happy yesterday.

19. We (work) hard last week.

We ..............hard last week.

20. The students (meet) in the hall last week.

The students .............in the hall last week.