Exercise: The Simple Past in English

Practice using the Simple Past (also known as the past simple) with the following exercises. These exercises will help you test your understanding of how to form affirmative, negative, and interrogative sentences in the past tense. Pay special attention to irregular verbs!

If needed, review the lesson and watch the video on this topic to refresh your memory!

Exercises

Exercise 1

Change the verb in parentheses to the past simple in the affirmative form:

1. You ________ (to decide) to stay a little longer.
2. If I ________ (to have) a car, I would visit my friends more often.
3. He ________ (to go) to therapy to boost his confidence.
4. Paul and Jane ________ (to play) chess almost daily.
5. My friend ________ (to grab) my hand to stop me from leaving.

Exercise 2

Rewrite the sentences in the negative form:

1. She raised the money to buy the land.
2. I used to run 10 km per day.
3. They became famous overnight.
4. We hung out after the movies.
5. You were supposed to help me.

Exercise 3

Put the verb in parentheses into the past simple tense and use the indicated pronoun:

1. ________ (he – to be) married or single?
2. What ________ (they – to do) to him?
3. ________ (we – to obey) our parents?
4. How ________ (you – to manage) to solve the issue?
5. Where ________ (I – go) wrong?

Exercise 4

Change the verbs to the past simple:

1. I see what you mean.
2. You don’t say anything. 
3. He thinks it is too late.
4. They wonder how I can stay on the island.
5. Does she have a pet?