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) Mary’s birthday on Sunday, but they ________________ (celebrate) it on
Saturday night. They _____________ (stay) at the disco until one o’clock in the
morning. Mary _____________ (enjoy) it. She _____________ (dance) all night! On
Sunday, Tom and his friends _____________ (be) tired. They _____________ (stay)
in bed until 11 o’clock. 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 o’clock 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.
2 18 7 14 11

13 3 10 17 5 9

1 8 16

15 12 19 6 4