Simple Past tense - Learning English

Simple Past

The Simple Past describes things that happened one after another
in the past.

Examples: Simple Past

First Bob read a book, then he went to bed yesterday night.

Last week I came to a church and then I took the road right.

Simple Past: Actions that happened at a specific time in the past.

Examples: Simple Past tense:

I got a present yesterday.

I had in great time in America last year.

Simple past regular verbs

Add -ed to the regular verb. look - looked, watch - watched,

Some verbs you need to change a bit.

Verb ending in... Add ... Examplee

-e only add -d live - lived

date - dated

Consonant +y Change y to i an add -ed carry - carried

cry - cried

1 vowel + 1 Double consonant and stop - stopped

consonant add -ed

Simple past irregular (not regular) verbs

Some verbs are not regular. You have to learn them by heart.
Example: Simple Past tense - irregular verbs:

begin - began fall - fell

break - broke forget - forgot
come - came get - got
drink - drank speak - spoke

Simple past signal words

Simple past signal words: ago, in 2011, in 1999, ... last month,
last week, last year, yesterday

Examples: Simple Past signal words

I ate oranges last year.

We went to school eyery day in 1999.
He took his dog for a walk a month ago.

Simple past- questions

To form a question: 'did' + subject + infinitive.

Examples: questions Simple Past

I ate oranges in 2011. Did I eat oranges in 2011?

We went to school last week. Did we go to school last week?
He took his dog for a walk last week. Did he take his dog for a
walk last week?

Simple past negative

Negative sentences Simple Past

Examples: Simple Past negative

I knew Covent Garden? I did't know Covent Garden.

We went to school eyery day. We didn't go to school every day.
He took his dog for a walk. He didn't take his dog for a walk.
Put the verbs into the simple past:

1. Last year I (go) to England on holiday.

2. It (be) fantastic.
3. I (visit) lots of interesting places. I (be) with two
friends of mine .
4. In the mornings we (walk) in the streets of London.
5. In the evenings we (go) to pubs.
6. The weather (be) strangely fine.
7. It (not / rain) a lot.
8. But we (see) some beautiful rainbows.
9. Where (spend / you) your last holiday?

Write the past forms of the irregular verbs.

Infinitive Simple Past

1. meet
.

2. drive
.

3. speak
.

4. put
.

5. write
.

6. sing
.

7. do
.

8. sit
.

9. stand
.

10. run
.

Complete the table in simple past.

Affirmative Negative Interrogative

 He wrote a book.

He did not sing

Was she pretty?

Put the sentences into simple past.

1. We move to a new house.

2. They bring a sandwich.
3. He doesn't do the homework.
4. They sell cars.
5. Does he visit his friends?

Write sentences in simple past.

1. Janet / miss / the bus

2. she / tidy / her room
3. Nancy / watch / not / television
4. she / read / a book

Choose "Was or "Were:

1. The teacher nice.

2. The students very clever.
3. But one student in trouble.
4. We sorry for him.
5. He nice though.

Complete the sentences with was or were.

1. I happy.
2. You angry.
3. She in London last week.
4. He on holiday.
5. It cold.
6. We at school.
7. You at the cinema.
8. They at home.
9. The cat on the roof.
10. The children in the garden.

Write positive sentences in simple past.

1. he / the question / answer

2. you / a question / ask
3. the dog / bark
4. they / us / call
5. we / a mountain / climb
6. John / stamps / collect
7. we / in London / live
8. I / hungry / be
9. they / a hamster / have
10. he / to school / go

Have a look at James's last week's diary and answer the questions in complete
sentences. Put the time expression at the end of the sentence.

Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun

football shopping meeting ring Jane buy flowers concert sailing

cinema tennis English Italian restaurant

1. When was his English course?

2. When did he go shopping?
3. When did he buy flowers?
4. When was his meeting?
5. When did he play football?
6. When did he go to the Italian restaurant?
7. When did he ring Jane?
8. When did he go to the cinema?
9. When did he play tennis?
10. When was the concert?
11. When did he go sailing?

Rewrite the sentences in the negative.

They did not

1. They collected postcards.
2. You jumped high.
3. Albert played squash.
4. The teacher tested our English.
5. Fiona visited her grandma.
6. He washed the car.
7. You were thirsty.
8. He had a computer.
9. I bought bread.
10. You saw the house.

Write questions in simple past.

Did Anna op
1. Anna / the window / open
2. she / home / walk
3. you / in the garden / work
4. you / a song / sing
5. she / on a chair / sit
6. you / the castle / visit
7. Jenny / the door / lock
8. she / happy / be
9. Greg / the ball / kick
10. the car / at the corner / stop

Exercise on questions with interrogative

Ask for the bold part of the sentence.

1. She pushed her bike.

2. She carried a bag.
3. We waited in the park.
4. The policeman arrested the thief.
5. We ate fish.
6. She watched the match last night.
7. She asked her friend because she did not know what to do.
8. I opened the door.
9. The teacher checked our homework.
10. Cindy had a dog.

Put the verbs into the correct form (simple past).

spent
1. Last year I (spend) my holiday in Ireland.
2. It (be) great.
3. I (travel) around by car with two friends and we (visit) lots of
interesting places.
4. In the evenings we usually (go) to a pub.
5. One night we even (learn) some Irish dances.
6. We (be) very lucky with the weather.
7. It (not / rain) a lot.
8. But we (see) some beautiful rainbows.
9. Where (spend / you) your last holiday?

Fun Quiz

Please enter the past tense of the verb given.

1. We always (walk) to school.

2. He (play) flute at school every day.

3. Our lesson (end) at two o'clock.

4. He (work) in Quebec City.

5. They (succeed) in our class.

6. We (finish) our lessons at three o'clock.

7. I (start) to study English.

8. Helen (answer) all of the teacher's questions.

9. We (walk) through the park every morning.

10. The dog (follow) the boy everywhere.

Mark My Quiz!

1. I (walk) to work last week.

2. He (study) computers for five

years.
3. They (arrive) late for the party.
4. We (marry) in a church.
5. It (end) at 6 pm.
6. Ellen (wait) for an hour.
7. You (like) the movie. I didn't.
8. Bob (need) that book yesterday.
9. They (use) my new pen.
The (help) the students after
10.
teacher class.

Complete the following sentences with the words provided below in Past Simple Tense.

accuse arrive dance decide escape puzzle receive revise survey waste
Last time we together at the Browns' party.

We to spend holidays abroad.

She late as usual.

Unfortunately, I money when it was too late.

They Smith of murder.

We a lot of time.

He behaviour us immensly.

Six prisoners from the jail a few days ago.

Some time ago the author his book.

I all the materials and I still have no results.

Change the verb into the correct form:

1. Dan (leave) very early today.
2. Sam and Sue (buy) a new house last month.
3. I (visit) Germany the previous week.
4. You (play) very well.
5. They (find) this book on their trip to Italy.
6. I (bake) this cake by myself.
7. We (open) the store in 1987.
8. The rain finally (stop), and we (go) home.
9. She (plan) to come, but she (have) some problems.
10. Kate (have) a big house, but she (sell) it.
11. Rose (be) very thin.
12. You (be) at work yesterday morning.
13. We (think) New York was in England!
14. They (bring) this from their trip.
15. She always (dance) in the summer.
1. I my maths homework yesterday. (to do)
2. Susan to England by plane? (to go)
3. They a farm two weeks ago. (to visit)
4. Jenny and Peggy their brother. (not/to help)
5. The children at home last weekend. (not/to be)
6. When you this wonderful skirt? (to design)
 7. My mother into the van. (not/to crash)
8. The boys the mudguards of their bicycles. (to take off)
9. you your aunt last week? (to phone)
10. He milk at school. (not/to drink)
Check Show answ er

Negate the following sentences:

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.

A. COMPLETE THE SENTENCES

Ejemplo:

I didnt watch TV last night.

1. On Saturday I ____________ (play) computer games with my cousins.

2. My mum ____________ (not cook) dinner last night.

3. I ____________ (walk) to school because there werent any buses.

4. They ____________ (not dance) at the party.

5. My brother ____________ (travel) to Ireland last summer.

B. WRITE THE PAST SIMPLE OF THESE VERBS

1. copy __________
2. revise __________

3. cycle __________

4. listen __________

5. practice __________

6. play __________

7. like __________

8. move __________

9. shout __________

10. start __________

C. WRITE THE QUESTIONS IN THE CORRECT ORDER.

1. film? / like / you / Did / the /

_________________________________

2. you / many / did / ask? / How / people /

_________________________________

3. a / have / time? / they / Did / good /

_________________________________

4. did / weekend? / the / What / do / we / at /

_________________________________

5. she / DVD? / Where / that / did / buy /

_________________________________

6. party / on / your / go / Saturday? / he / Did / to /

_________________________________

7. did / yesterday? / Who / you / see /

_________________________________
E. REGULAR (R) OR IRREGULAR (I) VERBS?

play R

1. fly ___________

2. use ___________

3. study___________

4. eat ___________

5. make ___________

6. travel___________

7. see ___________

F. WRITE THE PAST SIMPLE OF THE VERBS OF EXERCISE E.

1. ___________

2. ___________

3. ___________

4. ___________

5. ___________

6. ___________

7. ___________

G. COMPLETE THE SENTENCES WITH THE PAST SIMPLE.

be got up meet have go run drink sleep swim eat

Yesterday I got up early, at about seven oclock.

1. I ________ a shower and some fruit for breakfast.

2. Then I ________ to the sports centre.

3. I ________ 500 meters in the swimming pool and then

4. I ________ 5 kilometers.

5. At lunchtime I ________ my friends in a caf.

6. We ________ some pasta and ________ some juice.

7. After lunch I ________ for a few hours, I ________ tired!

H. COMPLETE WITH PAST SIMPLE

1. I opened the door and ___________ (look) inside.

2. Who ___________ (close) all the windows?

3. I ___________ (carry) my moms shopping bag.

4. I ___________ (not climb) over the fence.

5. I ___________ (rip) my shirt.

6. The plane ___________ (land) ten minutes ago.

7. We ___________ (live) in that house when I was a baby.

8. My brother ___________ (not cry) when he fell of his bike.

9. We ___________ (walk) to school yesterday.

10. She ___________ (smile) when she saw me.

11. We ___________ (hurry) to the station to catch the train.

12. She ___________ (laugh) when I told her the joke.

13. We ___________ (race) each other on our bikes.

14. Dad ___________ (not help) me with my homework.

15. Helen ___________ (whisper) me a secret.

16. Luis Miguel ___________ (hurry) to catch a bus.

17. We ___________ (return) our books to the library.

18. She ___________ (not kiss) the frog.

19. The frog ___________ (change) into a prince.

20. Two doctors ___________ (rush) into the room.

21. I ___________ (not kick) the ball very hard.

22. Who ___________ (invent) the computer?

23. Dinosaurs ___________ (live) many years ago.

24. It ___________ (not snow) last night.

25. They ___________ (not work) until twelve last night.

I. PAST SIMPLE

1. I ___________ (loose) my watch in the park.

2. David ___________ (not hurt) his knee.

3. I kicked the ball and it ___________ (break) a window.

4. My new shoes ___________ (not cost) a lot of money.

5. I ___________ (get) this book from the library.

6. We had a garage where we ___________ (keep) our car.

7. Ali ___________ (cut) his knee.

8. The glass ___________ (fall) off the table.

9. The glass ___________ (not break).

10. We ___________ (sell) our old car.

11. We ___________ (buy) a new car.

12. The bell ___________ (not ring).

13. We all ___________ (go) into school.

14. The dog ___________ (catch) the ball.

15. The man ___________ (not kneel) down.

16. Our cat ___________ (run) onto the road.

17. Jane ___________ (not write) a letter.

18. I ___________ (buy) a new camera last week.

19. We ___________ (drive) to a safari park yesterday.

20. Yesterday Dad ___________ (not take) me to the carnival.

21. Elizabeth ___________ (give) Eva a chocolate.

22. Jack and Jill ___________ (not go) up the hill.

23. Her ring ___________ (cost) ten Euros.

24. I ___________ (put) sugar in my coffee.

25. He ___________ (not hit) the ball over the net.

She in Scotland. (to live)

2. They at the weekends. (to work)

3. John a flat in Edinburgh. (to rent)

4. Lisa her present. (to open)

5. Ben his bike. (to scratch)

6. Sue basketball. (to play)

7. Helen her new school. (to love)

8. The shops at nine oclock in the evening. (to

close)

9. Mother the turkey. (to cook)

10. Emily baked a cake (to bake)

Fill in the correct form of the Simple Past.

Yesterday it (to be) my friends birthday. He

(to invite) a lot of friends from school. It (to be) very
hot so we (to decide) to go to the swimming pool.
The swimming pool (not to be) full so
we (to swim) a lot. Suddenly Joe (to fall) and
(to hurt) himself. We (to call) an ambulance.
He (not to stay) in hospital but he (to
have) a broken arm.
Simple Past signal words - exampls and exercises

Signal words Simple Past: : ago, an hour ago, one minute ago, in 2011
..., in 1999
..., last month, last week, last year, last weekend, lastsummer, yesterda
y, at 5 o'clock.

Simple Past: Fill in the signal words and the correct for of the verbs.

1. Yesterday it rained.
Signal word: Verb:
2. She helped me last weekend.
Verb: Signal word:
3. They opened the shop two hours ago.
Verb: Signal word:
4. We went to Spain last summer.
Verb: Signal word:
5. She visited her friend in 2011.
Verb: Signal word:
6. We saw the film last week.
Verb: Signal word:
7. The Olympic Games finished last month.
Verb: Signal word:
8. The football match started an hour ago.
Verb: Signal word:
9. She sent the text message two minutes ago.
Verb: Signal word:
10. Emily and Lucy went shopping yesterday.
Verb: Signal word:
Consonant +y: Change y to i an add -ed

hurry - hurried, cry - cried

1 vowel + 1 consonant: Double consonant and add -ed

stop - stopped, plan - planned

Fill in the correct form of the Simple Past.

1. She her suitcase to the bus. (to carry)

2. They in the park to play football. (to stop)

3. The children to the playground. (to hurry)

4. John to win a medal. (to try)

5. Peter his trip to France. (to plan)

6. The thieves the old lady. (to rob)

7. Grandma the cup. (to drop)

8. The family to Spain. (to travel)

9. The baby because he was hungry. (to cry)

10. John married Emily last year. (to marry)

Fill in the correct form of the Simple Past.

see speak

send buy

choose find
go have

write see

Fill in the correct form of the Simple Past.

1. Ben Emily at the party. (to see)

2. He to her about the music. (to speak)

3. Ben fish and chips for lunch. (to eat)

4. Lucy me her photographs. (to send)

5. Jake a new camera. (to buy)

6. The football coach the red shirts. (to choose)

7. Lily a wallet with a lot of money. (to find)

8. Everybody to the swimming pool. (to go)

9. We a great meal in the new restaurant. (to have)

10. He a new song. (to write)

Fill in the correct form of the Simple Past.

1. The tutor group a prize.(to win)

2. Peter for Emilys ticket. (to pay)

3.The bird high in the sky. (to fly)

4. Jake his arm. (to break)

5. The doctor him some medicine. (to give)

6. They the good news. (to hear)

7. Ben his taxi through London. (to drive)

8. The friends in front of the caf. (to meet)

9. The man all the answers. (to know)

10. She the newspaper. (to read)

Fill in the correct for of the simple past

begin

bring

buy

drink

find

forget

give

go

hear

have

know

Use the past simple form of the verb in brackets.

1. You (arrive) in England last week.
2. My mum (study) Russian at university.
3. I (phone) you yesterday, but you weren't at home.
4. Last night, Marga and Alice (plan) their holiday.
5. Tom (invite) us to his birthday party.
6. The children (carry) the books to the classroom.
7. We (finish) the exam at half past three.
8. I (chat) to Jane about films and fashion.

Fill in the past form.

1. Mammoths big animals, bigger than elephants. (be)

2. Mammoths 100 years ago. (not live)

3. Mammoths a long time ago. (live)

4. Mammoths meat. They grass. (not eat / eat)

5. They two large tusks about three metres long. (have)

6. I by credit card. I cash. (pay / not pay)

7. He some milk. He any water. (drink / not drink)

8. She only a pound. She 3 pounds. (spend / not spend)

9. I some elephants. I any lions. (see / not see)

10. They in the sea, but in the lake. (swim / not swim)