Many exercises on the simple past

1. Using the Simple Past tense, fill in the blanks with the correct forms of the verb to be. For example:
I ___ calm.
I was calm.

You ____ right.
You were right.

1. He ________ happy.
2. We _________ students.
3. They ________ ambitious.
4. You _________ clever.
5. It _________ hot.
6. I _________ busy.
7. We _________ patient.
8. She _________ eleven years old.
9. They ________ intelligent.
10. He _________ in a hurry.

2. Rewrite the following affirmative statements as questions, negative statements, negative questions without contractions, negative questions with contractions, and affirmative statements followed by negative tag questions. For example:
You were on time.
Were you on time?
You were not on time.
Were you not on time?
Weren't you on time?
You were on time, weren't you?

It was warm enough.
Was it warm enough?
It was not warm enough.
Was it not warm enough?
Wasn't it warm enough?
It was warm enough, wasn't it?

1. I was late.
2. They were in a hurry.
3. He was an artist.
4. We were right.
5. She was there.

3. Paying attention to the correct spelling, fill in the blanks with the Simple Past of the regular verbs shown in brackets. For example:
It _______ raining. (to stop)
It stopped raining.

I _________ myself. (to disguise)
I disguised myself.

1. She _____________ through the book. (to flip)
2. We _____________ the traffic. (to watch)
3. You _____________ the flowers carefully. (to arrange)
4. He _____________ about his success. (to brag)
5. They _____________ sightseeing. (to enjoy)
6. He _____________ us with pencils. (to supply)
7. I _____________ the child. (to reassure)
8. We _____________ for them. (to wait)
9. They _____________ the books overseas. (to ship)
10. She ____________ too much. (to worry)
4. Fill in the blanks with the Simple Past tense of the irregular verbs shown in brackets. For example:
They _____ a song. (to write)
They wrote a song.

We _____ the floor. (to sweep)
We swept the floor.

1. She ____________ the dishes. (to do)
2. They ___________ for a walk. (to go)
3. He __________ his time. (to take)
4. I ___________ the beds. (to make)
5. They ___________ to catch the bus. (to run)
6. She ___________ up quickly. (to get)
7. You ___________ the coffee. (to drink)
8. We ___________ soundly. (to sleep)
9. He ___________ his books. (to forget)
10. I ___________ the house. (to leave)


5. Paying attention to the correct forms of the bare infinitives, change the following affirmative statements into questions. For example:
He lifted the suitcase.
Did he lift the suitcase?

I paid the rent.
Did I pay the rent?

1. She hurried to school.
2. They carried the parcels.
3. You closed the door.
4. I plugged in the lamp.
5. They planned the party.
6. We taught the class.
7. She told a story.
8. They struck a bargain.
9. He met his friends.
10. I shook hands.


6. Paying attention to the correct forms of the bare infinitives, change the following affirmative statements into negative statements. For example:
I scanned the newspaper.
I did not scan the newspaper.

They flew to Oran.
They did not fly to Oran.

1. We enjoyed ourselves.
2. She pinned on the brooch.
3. I fanned myself.
4. They emptied their pockets.
5. You replied at once.
6. He went to work.
7. We swam across the river.
8. They took the bus.
9. I shut the windows.
10. You ran fast.


7. Paying attention to the correct forms of the bare infinitives, change the following affirmative statements into negative questions. Give both the forms without contractions and the forms with contractions. For example:
You walked quickly.
Did you not walk quickly?
Didn't you walk quickly?

He burst the balloon.
Did he not burst the balloon?
Didn't he burst the balloon?

1. You watched the game.
2. I climbed the ladder.
3. We pleased the visitors.
4. They canned the peaches.
5. He received the letter.
6. You saw the fireworks.
7. It cost five hundred dinars.
8. She hit the ball.
9. He did his homework.
10. They cut the ribbon.

8. Rewrite the following sentences, changing the underlined verbs from the Simple Past to the form with used followed by the infinitive. For example:
They took the bus.
They used to take the bus.

She traveled every year.
She used to travel every year.

1. It snowed heavily.
2. I came often.
3. We were neighbours.
4. He wrote many letters.
5. They walked to work.
6. He teased us.
7. She told us stories.
8. You rode a bicycle.