Simple Past Tense 1/1
Exercises for beginners
Forming the past tense of to be.
Affirmative and negative sentence Interrogative sentence
I
was
He
was not
Was
he
She
wasn’t
at home
she
It
in hospital
yesterday.
it
You
were
on holiday
last week.
you
We
were not
in London
Were
we
They
weren’t
they
Task 1 - Complete the sentences with the Past Tense of ‘to be’.
1) We in Australia.
2) She in the classroom.
3) It my birthday last week.
4) The man in the train.
5) It an apple.
6) You in a bookshop.
7) It a doll.
8) I a good pupil.
9) What this?
10) It a French lesson.
11) London a beautiful city.
12) He my brother.
13) I in London today.
14) We on holiday.
15) The doctors here.
Task 2 - Rewrite the sentences into the Simple Past Tense. Then write a negative sentence. Use the short forms. Look at the example below.
e.g. I am at home. I was at home. I wasn’t at home.
1) He is my friend. . .
2) I am a man. . .
3) It is an umbrella. . .
4) That is a bird. . .
5) These are your pens and pencils. . .
6) They are happy people. . .
7) This is a kitchen. . .
8) Those are two bags, a ruler and a rubber. .
9) We are in. . .
Task 3 - Rewrite the sentences into the Simple Past. Then write an interrogative sentence. Look at the example below.
e.g. Mr Smith is at home. Mr Smith was at home. Was Mr Smith at home?
1) I am a good teacher. . ?
2) Mickey is strong and brave. . ?
3) My name is Susan. . ?
4) Peter is a boy. . ?
5) She is a young woman. . ?
6) These are my comics. . ?
7) This is a family. . ?
8) This pen is blue. . ?
9) We are from Australia. . ?
10) You are a stupid girl. . ?
Task 4 - Change the following sentences into interrogative then give short answers according to the sign. Look at the examples.
e.g. Mr Smith was at home. Was Mr Smith at home? Yes, he was.
Tim and Peter were in the library. Were Tim and Peter in the library? No, they weren’t.
1) I was in the garden. ? .
2) Mum was ill last week. ? .
4) You were tired yesterday. ? .
5) We were in the park at 5 o’clock yesterday. ? .
6) Jack was too fat two years ago. ? .
7) The Lees were in the zoo the day before yesterday. ?
8) I was always hungry. ? .
9) Kim and Greg were married . ? .
10) Frank Sinatra was a famous actor. ? .
Task 5 – Collect and write down the adverbs of time one after the other in Task 5.
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
