Past Simple exercises

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 meter 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 they _________ in the lake. (swim / not swim)
Complete these sentences. Use the verbs below.

clean - die - enjoy - end - happen - live - open - play - rain - repair - start - stay - want
- watch

1. Yesterday evening I _______________ TV.

2. I only _____________ my teeth four times last week.
3. Bob ________________ his mountain bike yesterday evening.
4. The concert last night __________ at 7.30 and ____________ at 10 o'clock.
5. The accident ____________ last Sunday afternoon.
6. When I was a child, I ________________ to be a lawyer.
7.Mozart _______________ from 1756 to 1791.
8.We _____________ our holiday last week.
9. Today the weather is nice, but yesterday it ________.
10. It was hot in the room, so I _______________ the window.
11. The weather was good yesterday afternoon, so we ______________ tennis.
12. William Shakespeare __________________ in 1616.
Put the sentences from the present into the past simple.

1. He always goes to work by car. Yesterday he ________ to work by bus.

2. They always get up early. This morning they ____________up late.
3. Bill often loses his key. He ____________ one last Saturday.
4. I write a letter to Jane every week. Last week I _________ two letters.
5. She meets her friends every evening. She __________them yesterday evening, too.
6. I usually read two newspapers every day. I only __________a newspaper yesterday.
7. They come to my house every Friday. Last Friday they _____________ too.
8. We usually go to the cinema on Sunday. We ________ to the cinema last Sunday,
too.
9. Tom always has a shower in the morning. Tom __________a shower this morning, too.
10. They buy a new car every year. Last year they ___________a new car, too.
11. I eat an orange every day. Yesterday I _____________two oranges.
12. We usually do our shopping on Monday. We ________our shopping last Monday, too.
13. Ann often takes photos. Last weekend she ______________some photos.
14. We leave at 8.30 every morning. But yesterday we ____________at 8.00.

Tell the story – fill in the past simple tense

On Friday, the children _____________ (talk) about a day out together in the country.
The next morning, they______________ (go) to the country with their two dogs and
___________ (play) together. Ben and Dave ________________ (have) some kites. Some
time later the dogs________________ (be) not there. So they_____________ (call) them
and_____________ (look) for them in the forest. After half an hour the children ________
(find) them and _____________ (take) them back. Charlie ____________ (be) very happy to
see them again. At lunch time Nick _____________ (go) to the bikes and _________ (bring)
the basket with some ham sandwiches. Then they ___________ (play) football. Nick
and Dave ___________________ (win). In the evening they ______________ (ride) home.

Put the sentences into past tense.

1. She wins the money. She ______________the money.
2. They can eat. They ____________ eat.
3. She must go. She ________________go.
4. We go shopping. We _______________shopping.
5. She runs to school. She ______________to school.
6. I can walk. I ____________walk.
7. We buy a new car. We _______________a new car.
8. They leave the party. They _________________the party.
9. We collect coins. We ______________________coins.
10. You are allowed to eat. You _______________allowed to eat.
11. Peter eats a hamburger. Peter ______________ a hamburger.
12. She has to wash it. She ______________to wash it.
13. They want to go home. They _____________to go home.
14. I close the windows. I __________________the windows.
15. She studies for a test. She ________________for a test.
16. They can drive. They ________________drive.
17. Sam likes to laugh. Sam ___________________to laugh.
18. Mary goes home. Mary ___________________home.
19. We write a letter. We _________________a letter.
20. She opens the window. She ____________________the window.

Fill in the correct simple past forms.

The students of class 9B ________________ (do) a project last week. First the pupils
________________(choose) what they wanted to do. Then they ______________ (get)
information from books and brochures, and they _______________ (talk) to a lot of
people. They ___________ (find) some interesting photos in the library. Their teacher
________________ (help) them when they ______________ (ask) her. Then they
_____________ (make) a poster and a video and _____________ (tell) the other groups
about their project.
A project about Cornwall - Fill in the correct simple past forms.

arrange • bring • choose • decide • find • get • go • say • start

Last month Jenny, Nick and Ben ____________ to do a project together. They
____________ Cornwall. First Jenny _________________to a travel agency and
_______________ some brochures. Nick and Ben ________________some interesting books
in the library. Then they __________work. A week later they ____________all their
material to school and _____________ it on a poster. ‘Your presentation is interesting’,
_________________ Miss Hunt.

Fill in the negative form of the past simple.

1. They invited Linda to their party, but they ______________Carol.

2. We met Sally, but we ________________Frank.
3. They did their English homework, but they ____________their math homework.
4. The girls visited the Tower, but they _______________Westminster Abbey.
5. He bought jeans, but he ________________any T-shirts.
6. We watched the news, but we _______________the weather report.
7. We read chapter 1 to 4, but we _______________the last chapter.
8. She talked to us, but she __________________to Mr. Brown.
9. They played tennis, but they ___________________ football.
10. She made breakfast, but she ________________lunch.
11. They were in Boston, but they ______________________ in New York.
12. She liked Chris, but she _____________Rob.
13. He was happy, but she _______________happy.
14. Paula sang well, but Christina ______________well.
15. She got up early, but he _____________early.

Fill in the negative form of the verb.

Example: She wrote an email to Tom. She didn't write an email to Tom.
1. My dad met her in Paris three days ago.
My dad ______________her in Paris three days ago.
2. Sam bought a new camera.
Sam _____________a new camera.
3. They came home late from work last Monday.
They _____________home late from work last Monday.
4. We played tennis yesterday afternoon.
We _________________tennis yesterday afternoon.
5. I caught a cold last winter.
I _____________a cold last winter.
6. The girls watched TV yesterday evening.
The girls _________________TV yesterday evening.
7. The student copied the text from the board.
The student ___________________the text from the board.
8. The children swam in the sea.
The children _______________ in the sea.
9. We stayed at the same hotel in Paris.
We ______________ at the same hotel in Paris.
10. Linda flew to Las Vegas last Wednesday.
Linda _____________ to Las Vegas last Wednesday.
11. I was really tired yesterday evening.
I ______________really tired yesterday evening.
12. They went to bed early last Friday.
They ______________ to bed early last Friday.
13. We found out what they did last night.
We ______________ what they did last night.
14. She cooked pasta for dinner last Thursday.
She ___________________ pasta for dinner last Thursday.
15. They were late for school again two days ago.
They __________________ late for school again two days ago

Write down the past form of the following verbs.

stay - stop - give - watch - have - drop -

sell - play - plan- try - love - tell -
agree - stand - teach-

Complete the sentences with the verbs in the past simple.

We ____________ the bus to the city center. (take)
He ___________his birthday presents. (open)
I ____________ my brother with his homework. (help)
She _____________me an email three days ago. (write)
They __________to Sweden for their holidays. (go)

Fill in the negative form of the verbs

I ________________rice when I was young. (like)

We ______________what we were looking for. (find)
My parents ________________a new motor bike. (buy)
He ______________me to work last week. (drive)
Sarah _____________her bed this morning. (make)

Use the words to form questions in the past simple tense.

read / you / last Sunday / the paper

mistake / he / make / what
books / like best / she / which

last week / meet / you / your grandparents

go swimming / they / how often

Fill in was or were.

Last week my sister _________ ill.

I _________ at home yesterday evening.
My friends ___________at the cinema yesterday.
Paul and Jeff __________ in Hawaii last summer.
There __________a lot of people at the concert.
He __________ happy, but we _________angry.
We _________ at work last Friday morning.
Mum ___________ in the garden when we came home.
They _________at home last weekend.
Ana ________tired but I _______ not.

Form questions with was and were.

you / of them / afraid

she / yesterday / in the park

happy / your siblings / about the present

when / at school / Tom

your parents / where / last Monday

Complete the sentences with the negative form of was or were. Use short
forms : wasn’t and weren’t

She ______________afraid of the neighbor's dog.

My sisters _____________ at the mall last Saturday.
I ____________at school two days ago.
Sandra and Claire ____________ jogging yesterday.
Daniel ____________my best friend when I was young.