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Past Simple Verbs: Exercises & Examples

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22 views12 pages

Past Simple Verbs: Exercises & Examples

Uploaded by

Sthefany Galindo
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Past Simple (regular verbs)

 Write the Past Simple form of the verbs below in the correct column.
repeat worry finish start phone call miss enjoy visit marry listen cry play
hate wash climb live arrive talk look stay ask clean travel open like
walk carry stop mix plan decide tidy

cons + y double cons

-d - ed - ied + - ed
Phoned Repeated Worryed Stopped
Hated Finished Enjoyed
Lived Started Marryed
Arrived Called Cryed
Liked Missed Played
Decided Visited Stayed
Listened Carryed
Washed Tidyed
Climbed
Talked
Looked
Asked
Cleaned
Traveled
Opened
Walked
Mixed
Planes
 Write sentences in Past Simple: 1- I cleaned my teeth twice yesterday.
1- Affirmative 2- I didn’t clean my teeth twice yesterday.
2- Negative 3- Did I clean my teeth twice yesterday?.
3- Interrogative (Yes / No) E) John / stay / at Mary’s house / last
summer.
A) My sister / tidy / her room / yesterday 1- John stayed at Mary’s house last
morning. summer.
1- 2- John didn’t stay at Mary’s house last
2- summer.
3- Did John stay at Mary’s house last
3- summer?.
B) We / live / in New York / in 1997. F) You / start / school / ten years ago.
1- 1- You started school ten years ago.
2- 2- You didn’t start school ten years ago.
3- Did you start school ten years ago?.
3-
2-
C) Tom / travel / to Dublin / last night.
3-
1-
2- G) The film / end / very late / last
weekend.
3-
1- The film ended very late last weekend.
D) I / clean / my teeth / twice / yesterday.
2- The film didn’t end very late last weekend. 2- Sue and Pat didn't talk on the phone
3- Did the film end very late last weekend?. yesterday.
3- Did Sue and Pat talk on the phone
H) Sue and Pat / talk / on the phone / yesterday.
yesterday?.
1- Sue and Pat talked on the phone yesterday.

 Write the verbs in brackets in Past Simple.


- My sister tidyed (Tidy) Her Bedroom - John stayed (stay) at his granny’s
yesterday morning. house last summer.

- We phoned (phone) our cousins last - The film ended (end) very late
week. yesterday.

- The girls played (play) on the computer - My family lived (live) in New York in
last night. 1995.

- I traveled (travel) to Paris three - You cleaned (clean) your teeth three
months ago. times yesterday.
 Complete the sentences with the verbs below in Past Simple.

1- Lucy ................................. her birthday presents.

2- Last weekend I ............................. in the mountains for 2


hours.

3- We .............................. the party very much.

4- Ken ............................... to his favourite CD yesterday.

5- My sister .................................. Maths for an exam.

6- They .................................. to the USA in 2003.

7- Dad ................................ his car last weekend.

8- The film ............................... at 11:30.

 Write the sentences in negative.

1- Lucy ...................................................... her birthday presents.

2- ...............................................................................................................................................
..........

3- ...............................................................................................................................................
..........
4- ...............................................................................................................................................
..........

5- ...............................................................................................................................................
..........

6- ...............................................................................................................................................
..........

7- ...............................................................................................................................................
..........

8- ...............................................................................................................................................
..........

What did you do yesterday? Put a ( ) or a ( ).

 Write questions about the previous activities and answer them.

1- Did you .............................................................

yesterday? ...................................................... 2-

................................................................................................? .........................................

.............

3- ................................................................................................? .........................................
..............

4- ................................................................................................? .........................................
..............

5- ................................................................................................? .........................................
..............
6- ................................................................................................? .........................................
..............

7- ................................................................................................? .........................................
..............

8- ................................................................................................? .........................................
..............

 Ask your classmate the questions and compare the


answers. Use and or but to join the actions.

1- Yesterday
I ................................................................................................................................

2- ...............................................................................................................................................
..........

3- ...............................................................................................................................................
..........

4- ...............................................................................................................................................
..........

5- ...............................................................................................................................................
..........

6- ...............................................................................................................................................
..........

7- ...............................................................................................................................................
..........

8- ...............................................................................................................................................
..........

Past Simple (irregular verbs)


 Complete the table.
Then complete the sentences with the Past Simple of the verbs in
brackets.
- She ...................... (go) to school on foot yesterday. - My dad ................... (give) me a CD for
my birthday.

- Paul ..................... (eat) 2 sandwiches and an apple. - Ana ..................... (have) a bath last
Sunday.

- I ...................... (get) up very early last night. - We ...................... (swim) in the


Mediterranean sea.

- They ....................... (find) 50 euros in the street. - Joe ..................... (write) a letter to Mary
2 days ago.

 Complete the sentences. Use the negative form of the underlined


verbs.
Yesterday ...

- I drank coffee but I ................................. tea.

- She found her purse but she .................................. her keys.

- The children broke the window but they .................................... the door.

- He had a shower but he .................................. breakfast.

- My father made a cake but he ................................. any pastries.


- We spoke English and French but we ................................... German.

 Match the pictures with the actions and write the Past Simple of the
verbs.

 Write questions about Alex and answer them.


Mary likes and the children love .
So Mary and Mum ................................ (sunbathe) and the children ...........................

(play) with the ball and .......................... (make) sandcastles. Dad ...........................

(swim) in the sea and ........................ (read) the under the umbrella. We

usually ...................... (have) lunch in a near the beach. In the afternoon

they ................................ (visit) very interesting places. One day

They ......................... (go) out in a . It .................... (be) amazing!

They .......................... (like) the best. They ...................... (see) different

, some and even a .............................. (jump) in front of the boat.

They also ......................... (watch) some people feed the fish. Mary ......................

(take) a lot of .

The family ........................... (enjoy) a lot.

The last day it ........................ (rain). The whole family ....................... (go) to a
shopping centre.

They ............................... (buy) some souvenirs. In the afternoon


they ............................. (return)

home. Mary and her family ..................... (have) a great time there !!!!

WRITE sentences in PAST SIMPLE:


1- Affirmative B) My father / buy / a jeep / last week.
2- Negative
3- Interrogative (Yes / No) 1-
2-
A) He / phone / a friend / an hour ago.
3-
1-
2- C) The girls / wear / skirts / to the
party
3-
1-
2- 1-
3- 2-
3-
D) I / wash / my hair / last night
1- K) My friend / study / German / last
year.
2-
1-
3-
2-
E) Jane / send / four e-mails / to Lisa
3-
1-
L) I / get up / at seven / last Sunday
2-
morning
3-
1-
F) The old lady / carry / heavy bags / 2-
yesterday morning
3-
1-
M) We / visit / our friends / yesterday
2-
evening
3-
1-
G) The film / end / very late / last 2-
weekend
3-
1-
N) She / have lunch / in an Italian
2-
restaurant
3-
1-
H) They / go / to bed / at midnight 2-
1- 3-
2-
O) They / watch / TV / in the living
3- room
I) The children / play / tennis and 1-
basketball / at the sports
centre. 2-

1- 3-

2- P) He / drink / orange juice / for


breakfast
3-
1-
J) You / do / your homework / last
weekend. 2-
3-

Write Wh- questions for the underlined words in the


previous sentences.
Use these wh- words:

WHERE WHAT TIME WHEN WHAT HOW MANY


WHO

A) - ..........................................................................................................................................
..

B) - ..........................................................................................................................................
..

C) - ..........................................................................................................................................
..

D) - ..........................................................................................................................................
..

E) - ..........................................................................................................................................
..

F) - ..........................................................................................................................................
..

G) - ..........................................................................................................................................
..

H) - ..........................................................................................................................................
..

I) - ..........................................................................................................................................
..

J) - ..........................................................................................................................................
..

K) - ..........................................................................................................................................
..
L) - ..........................................................................................................................................
..

M) - ..........................................................................................................................................
..

N) - ..........................................................................................................................................
..

O) - ..........................................................................................................................................
..

P) - ..........................................................................................................................................
..

Common questions

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Context dictates the choice between affirmative, negative, or interrogative past simple sentences as it determines the speaker's intent and information to convey. For instance, affirmation confirms events or actions ("I cleaned my teeth twice yesterday"), whereas negativity might be used to deny actions or correct misunderstandings ("I didn’t clean my teeth twice yesterday"). Interrogatives are critical for inquiries about past actions ("Did I clean my teeth twice yesterday?"). Effective communication requires appropriating sentence structures aligning with the speaker's informational and relational goals within discourse .

When shifting from an affirmative statement using 'live' to a negative one, the transformation involves employing the auxiliary 'did not' (or 'didn't') and returning the main verb to its base form. For example, "We lived in New York in 1997" becomes "We didn’t live in New York in 1997." Here, 'lived' reverts to 'live' as the presence of 'did not' already indicates past tense, thereby necessitating the base form of the verb .

In forming past simple interrogative sentences, the auxiliary "did" is used before the subject, followed by the base form of the verb. For example, "Did I clean my teeth twice yesterday?" This differs from affirmative sentences which use the past form of the verb directly (e.g., "I cleaned my teeth twice yesterday.") and negative sentences, which use "did not" or "didn't" with the base form (e.g., "I didn’t clean my teeth twice yesterday.").

For 'phone,' as it ends with an 'e,' you simply add 'd' to form 'phoned.' For 'stop,' which ends in a vowel and consonant, the final consonant is doubled before adding 'ed,' making it 'stopped.' For 'travel,' you typically add 'ed' to form 'traveled,' although British English commonly doubles the final consonant, forming 'travelled.' These transformations reflect the specific rules of past simple formations—using '-d' after 'e', doubling the final consonant after a short vowel, and straightforward addition of '-ed' for some verbs .

Students might confuse verbs like 'marry' because these verbs end in a consonant and 'y,' where the 'y' changes to 'i' before adding 'ed' to make 'married,' which is a deviation from the straightforward 'add -ed' rule. This can be mitigated through targeted practice that emphasizes pattern recognition, particularly focusing on verbs that change the 'y' to 'i' in past forms, coupled with clear examples and exercises differentiating regular patterns from such exceptions .

The primary rule for forming the past simple tense of regular verbs in English is to add "-ed" to the base form of the verb. However, if a verb ends in "-e," only "-d" is added (e.g., "phone" becomes "phoned"). For verbs ending in a consonant followed by "-y," the "-y" is changed to "-ied" (e.g., "cry" becomes "cried"). If a verb ends in a single vowel followed by a consonant, the consonant is doubled before adding "-ed" (e.g., "plan" becomes "planned").

Correctly identifying verb patterns for regular verbs when converting sentences from present to past tense is crucial for grammatical accuracy and clarity in communication. Errors in this process, such as failing to double the consonant or incorrectly handling final "-y" changes, can result in incorrect word forms that may confuse the reader or listener. For example, mistaking "plan" to "planed" instead of "planned" changes the meaning entirely. Understanding these patterns helps maintain correct tense usage and facilitates precise communication .

Verbs like 'decide' simply take '-d' (decided) as they end with 'e'. In contrast, 'plan,' as a monosyllabic word ending in a single vowel and consonant, doubles the consonant before adding '-ed,' forming 'planned.' The doubling retains the short vowel sound and prevents the word from mistakenly adopting a silent final 'e' pronunciation, helping maintain phonetic clarity. This doubling rule preserves stress and pronunciation of the base form, impacting the verb’s orthographic representation and its spoken characteristic .

The verb 'play' is transformed into the past simple by adding '-ed,' forming 'played.' 'Enjoy' simply takes '-ed' as well, becoming 'enjoyed.' Common mistakes learners might make include misapplying these transformations by either omitting the 'e' or unnecessarily changing the ending 'y' in 'enjoy,' which remains 'enjoyed' as it follows a vowel. Clear understanding of when the 'y' does not change (after a vowel) helps prevent such errors .

In negative and interrogative sentences in the past simple tense, the auxiliary "did" is employed, and the main verb reverts to its base form. This differs from affirmative sentences where the verb is in its past form. For example, the negative sentence "I didn’t clean my teeth twice yesterday" uses "did not" followed by the base verb "clean," and the interrogative "Did I clean my teeth twice yesterday?" also uses "did" with the base verb "clean" .

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