PRESENT

CONTINUOUS
SIMPLE
PAST
EXERCISES

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EXERCISES
[email protected]
Teacher Nicolly Dias
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 1) Write the sentences below in the past simple.

a) He goes to bed early. __________________________________________________

b) We don’t like onions. __________________________________________________
c) Stewart lives in Vancouver. _____________________________________________
d) Does she exercise? ___________________________________________________
e) I hate cooking. _______________________________________________________
f) They play video games. ________________________________________________
g) He knows the answer. _________________________________________________
h) I forget his name. _____________________________________________________
i) They don’t study history. _______________________________________________
j) Do they drive? _______________________________________________________
k) Jenny works at a hotel. _________________________________________________
l) Do you swim? ________________________________________________________
m) We don’t like the movie. ________________________________________________
n) Where do you live? ____________________________________________________
o) He doesn’t drink tea. __________________________________________________
p) They start class at 8:00. ________________________________________________
q) Does he eat breakfast? ________________________________________________
r) I don’t run fast. _______________________________________________________
s) He has a car. ________________________________________________________
t) Do you enjoy sports? ________________________________________________

2) Put the correct form of the verb “to be” (was/were) in the past tense in the following sentences.

a) Judy ________________ sick yesterday.

b) We ________________ in the same class last year.
c) I ________________ tired after a long day at work.
d) The weather ________________ beautiful yesterday.
e) Last semester my teachers ________________ very good.
f) The children ________________ hungry after so much exercise.
g) The wind ________________ very strong last night.
h) She ________________ very happy last week.

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i) They ________________ nervous on the first day of school.
j) Luckily, the windows ________________ closed during the rain storm.
k) We ________________ very happy to get your letter last week.
l) The boys ________________ tired after the ball game.

3) Put the correct negative form of the verb “to be” (wasn’t/ weren’t) in the following sentences.

a) They ________________ at school yesterday because it was Saturday.

b) He ________________ hungry at supper time because he ate a big lunch.
c) Carol ________________ happy to see her boyfriend with another girl.
d) Bonnie ________________ at home last night when I called her.
e) The teacher ________________ satisfied with the student’s work.

4) Complete the following sentences with wasn’t or weren’t.

Example: I am at work today, but I wasn’t here yesterday.

a) It is cold outside today, but

________________________________________________________________________________
b) She is sick today, but
________________________________________________________________________________
c) They are at school today, but
________________________________________________________________________________
d) The TV show is good today, but
_______________________________________________________________________________
e) The apples are sweet today, but
______________________________________________________________________________
f) The class is interesting today, but
____________________________________________________________________________
g) The boss is angry today, but
________________________________________________________________________________
h) The door is locked today, but
________________________________________________________________________________

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 5) Practice making questions and giving short answers with the verb “to be” in the past tense.

Example: Were you tired last night?

Yes, I was. (I was tired last night.)

a) ________________________________________________________________________________

(It wasn’t cold outside yesterday.)

b) ________________________________________________________________________________

(They weren’t sick last week.)

c) ________________________________________________________________________________

(Don was at the office last Saturday.)

d) ________________________________________________________________________________

(The car was expensive.)

e) ________________________________________________________________________________

(The children weren’t excited.)

f) ________________________________________________________________________________

(The store wasn’t open.)

g) ________________________________________________________________________________

(The movie was interesting.)

h) ________________________________________________________________________________

(The food wasn’t good.)

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 6) Use the correct question word (who, what, where, when, why, how many) and the correct form
of the verb “to be” in the past tense to make questions. The underlined words are the answers
to the questions.

Example: Why was she absent yesterday?

She was absent because she was sick.

a) She was tired because she worked hard all day.

________________________________________________________________________________
b) She was at the mall last night.
________________________________________________________________________________
c) There were twenty people at the party.
________________________________________________________________________________
d) A diamond ring was in the box.
________________________________________________________________________________
e) The secretary was in the office.
________________________________________________________________________________
f) The students were absent last Tuesday.
________________________________________________________________________________
g) She was late because she missed her bus.
________________________________________________________________________________
h) Miss Jones was at the door.
________________________________________________________________________________

7) Choose the correct verb from the list below to complete the following sentences. Put the verb in
the past tense.

play / listen / paint/ water / visit / mail / help / arrive / learn / watch / change / wait

a) I ____________________ my friend in the hospital last night.

b) The boys ____________________ baseball in the field behind the school.
c) Robert ____________________ his wife wash the dishes.
d) We ____________________ our living room a soft blue color.
e) Susan ____________________ TV for two hours last night.
f) We ____________________ planes on the way to New York.
g) He ____________________ the letter on the way to work.

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 h) She ____________________ for him for 20 minutes at the coffee shop.
i) They ____________________ how to swim many years ago.
j) She ____________________ the flowers in the garden yesterday.
k) The students ____________________ late for class.
l) We ____________________ to the radio until midnight.

8) Change the following sentences to a negative and then write another sentence of your own in
the affirmative.

Example: Mary baked a cake.  Mary didn’t bake a cake. She baked cookies.

a) The boys played soccer.

________________________________________________________________________________
b) Carol called her mother.
________________________________________________________________________________
c) Donald fixed his TV.
________________________________________________________________________________
d) Peter danced with Betty.
________________________________________________________________________________
e) Ann studied history.
________________________________________________________________________________

9) Write the correct past tense for each of the following verbs

Example: catch — caught

Cut – Sit – See –

Shake – Read – Spend –
Dig – Sing – Sell –
Shoot – Ride – Stand –
Cost – Sleep – Send –
Shut – Run – Swim –
Meet – Speak – Eat –

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 10) Complete the sentences below using the example given.

Example: Bill usually eats cereal for breakfast.

He didn’t eat cereal yesterday. He ate toast.

a) Ben usually gets up at 7:00.

He ____________________ at 7:00 yesterday. He ____________________ at 8:00.

b) Ben usually takes a shower.

He ____________________ a shower yesterday. He ____________________ a bath.

c) Ben usually reads the Times newspaper.

He ____________________ the Times yesterday. He ____________________ the Post.

d) Ben usually leaves the house at 8:00.

He ____________________ the house at 8:00. He ____________________ at 9:00.

e) Ben usually takes a bus to work.

He ____________________ a bus yesterday. He ____________________ a taxi.

f) Ben usually meets his boss in the morning.

He ____________________ his boss in the morning yesterday. He ____________________ him in the

afternoon.

g) Ben usually writes 10 letters every morning.

He ____________________ write 10 letters yesterday. He ____________________ 5 letters.

h) Ben usually eats lunch in the office.

He ____________________ lunch in the office yesterday. He ____________________ lunch in a

restaurant.

i) Ben usually has a lot of appointments every day.

He ____________________ a lot of appointments yesterday. He ____________________only a few.

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 j) Ben usually goes home at 6:00.

He ____________________ home at 6:00 yesterday. He ____________________ home at 7:00.

11) Use the correct question word (who, what, where, when, why, how much) to make questions in
the simple past tense. The underlined words are the answers to the questions.

Example: She bought the toy at Wal-Mart.

Where did she buy the toy?

a) They left the office at 6:00.

________________________________________________________________________________
b) She didn’t go to work because she was sick
_______________________________________________________________________________
c) I spent $80.00 on groceries.
________________________________________________________________________________
d) Rosa spoke to the boss.
________________________________________________________________________________
e) Rosa spoke to the boss.
________________________________________________________________________________
f) She said “hello” to me.
________________________________________________________________________________
g) I felt sick yesterday.
________________________________________________________________________________
h) The sun rose at 6:45 A.M. yesterday.
________________________________________________________________________________
i) She wore a beautiful dress to the party.
________________________________________________________________________________
j) The meeting took place in Room 29.
________________________________________________________________________________

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 12) Choose the correct verb from the list below to complete the following sentences. Put the verb
into the correct past tense form.

buy / ring / lie / break / teach / fly / set / send / wake / swim / be / pay / meet / have / write / drink / give /
get / take / catch / lose

a) She _________________ a plate when she was washing the dishes.

b) They _________________ to Paris in a jumbo jet last week.
c) I _________________ the alarm clock for 7:00 yesterday morning, but I _________________ up a
half-hour before the alarm clock
d) I _________________ a letter to my friends back home.
e) He _________________ flowers to his girlfriend for her birthday.
f) His mother _________________ care of him when he _________________ sick.
g) The teacher _________________ the math class and then the students _________________ three
exercises to do for homework.
h) Angie _________________ a bad cold last week. She _________________ in bed for three days.
i) Matthew his wallet on the way to work yesterday. He _________________very upset.
j) The children _________________in the lake behind their house.
k) We _________________ a wonderful time at your party last night.
l) I _________________ groceries on my way home yesterday and I _________________ in cash.
m) I _________________ three friends at the café and we _________________ several cups of coffee
together.

13) Complete the following sentences using yesterday, last, or ago.

a) She came to this country three years _________________

b) I was very tired _________________ week.
c) The class was cancelled _________________ Monday.
d) I spoke to him ten minutes _________________.
e) The weather was beautiful _________________ summer.
f) We went dancing _________________ night.
g) The boss was away _________________ morning.
h) We started this class _________________fall.

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i) The children watched a little TV _________________ evening.
j) She got married five years _________________.
k) We skied a lot _________________ winter.
l) We went shopping _________________ afternoon.
m) She left five minutes _________________.
n) They left the city a month _________________ .
o) They came back _________________ week.

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