Present Simple vs. Past Simple – English Grammar Exercises for A1
It is Monday morning. You are drinking coffee in the office and talking to your colleague about what you did yesterday compared to your normal daily routine.
Choose the best answer (A, B, C, or D) to complete each sentence.
1 I usually ______ up at 6:00 a.m. for work, but yesterday I slept until 9:00 a.m.
(a) wakes
(b) woke
(c) wake
(d) am wake
2 Yesterday ______ Sunday, so I didn’t go to the office.
(a) is
(b) was
(c) were
(d) did
3 We ______ work on weekends. We only work from Monday to Friday.
(a) don’t
(b) didn’t
(c) doesn’t
(d) aren’t
4 Yesterday afternoon, I ______ a great movie with my family in the living room.
(a) watch
(b) watched
(c) watchs
(d) was watch
5 ______ you have a good weekend?
(a) Are
(b) Do
(c) Were
(d) Did
6 Every Monday morning I drink coffee, but yesterday I ______ orange juice.
(a) drank
(b) drinked
(c) drink
(d) was drink
7 What time ______ you usually start work on Mondays?
(a) did
(b) do
(c) does
(d) are
8 I ______ lots of emails every day, but I didn’t check them yesterday.
(a) readed
(b) reading
(c) read
(d) reads
9 The weather was bad on Saturday, so we ______ to the park.
(a) don’t go
(b) didn’t went
(c) didn’t go
(d) wasn’t go
10 I ______ very tired today because I played tennis for three hours yesterday!
(a) was
(b) am
(c) be
(d) do
11 On Sundays, my wife usually cooks, but last night we ______ to a restaurant.
(a) went
(b) go
(c) goed
(d) did go
12 My manager always ______ a team meeting on Monday mornings.
(a) have
(b) had
(c) is have
(d) has
13 Where ______ on Saturday night?
(a) did you go
(b) do you go
(c) did you went
(d) you went
14 I always take the bus to work, but yesterday I ______ a new bicycle!
(a) buy
(b) bought
(c) buyed
(d) was buy
15 I normally ______ my job, but today I feel very lazy after the long weekend.
(a) am enjoy
(b) enjoyed
(c) enjoy
(d) enjoying
16 We ______ any meetings yesterday, so it was a very relaxing day at home.
(a) don’t have
(b) hadn’t
(c) didn’t had
(d) didn’t have
17 She ______ her parents every Sunday, but last Sunday she stayed at home.
(a) visits
(b) visited
(c) visit
(d) is visit
18 ______ you at the office on Saturday? I saw someone at your desk.
(a) Did
(b) Were
(c) Was
(d) Are
19 Yesterday I cleaned my house, washed my clothes, and ______ some books.
(a) reads
(b) read
(c) readed
(d) reading
20 Today I have to wear a business suit, but yesterday I ______ my comfortable jeans.
(a) wore
(b) weared
(c) wear
(d) am wear
ANSWER KEY & EXPLANATIONS
1 (c) wake
- Why it’s correct (The Key): “Usually” indicates a present routine. The pronoun “I” takes the base verb.
- Error Analysis: (b) woke (Common Mistake: mixing the past tense from the second half of the sentence). (a) wakes (Strong Distractor: present tense, but wrong for “I”). (d) am wake (Structural Error).
2 (b) was
- Why it’s correct (The Key): “Yesterday” is in the past. The singular past tense of “to be” is “was”.
- Error Analysis: (a) is (Common Mistake: using present tense). (c) were (Strong Distractor: past tense, but used for plural subjects). (d) did (Structural Error: “did” needs a main verb).
3 (a) don’t
- Why it’s correct (The Key): “On weekends” and “only work from Monday to Friday” describe a permanent fact/routine. The negative auxiliary for “We” is “don’t”.
- Error Analysis: (b) didn’t (Common Mistake: wrong tense). (c) doesn’t (Strong Distractor: present tense, but wrong for “We”). (d) aren’t (Structural Error: cannot use “be” with the base verb “work”).
4 (b) watched
- Why it’s correct (The Key): “Yesterday afternoon” is a finished past event. “Watch” is a regular verb.
- Error Analysis: (a) watch (Common Mistake: forgetting the past tense ending). (c) watchs (Structural Error: incorrect spelling and tense). (d) was watch (Strong Distractor: confusing “was” as a past marker for action verbs).
5 (d) Did
- Why it’s correct (The Key): To ask about a finished past event (“weekend”), we use the past auxiliary “Did”.
- Error Analysis: (b) Do (Common Mistake: using present tense for a past event). (c) Were (Strong Distractor: “were” is past tense but cannot be followed by the base verb “have”). (a) Are (Structural Error).
6 (a) drank
- Why it’s correct (The Key): “Yesterday” requires the past simple. “Drink” is an irregular verb (drank).
- Error Analysis: (c) drink (Common Mistake: failing to change to past tense). (b) drinked (Structural Error: adding “-ed” to an irregular verb). (d) was drink (Strong Distractor: incorrect auxiliary usage).
7 (b) do
- Why it’s correct (The Key): “Usually” and “on Mondays” signify a routine question. “You” takes “do”.
- Error Analysis: (a) did (Common Mistake: wrong tense). (c) does (Strong Distractor: present tense, but wrong for “you”). (d) are (Structural Error: cannot use “are” with base verb “start”).
8 (c) read
- Why it’s correct (The Key): “Every day” requires Present Simple. The base form is “read” (pronounced /ri:d/).
- Error Analysis: (a) readed (Structural Error: adding “-ed” to an irregular verb). (d) reads (Common Mistake: adding “s” for the subject “I”). (b) reading (Strong Distractor: missing the “to be” verb).
9 (c) didn’t go
- Why it’s correct (The Key): “Saturday” is in the past. The negative past simple is formed with “didn’t + base verb”.
- Error Analysis: (a) don’t go (Common Mistake: using present tense). (b) didn’t went (Structural Error: double past marking). (d) wasn’t go (Strong Distractor: incorrect auxiliary).
10 (b) am
- Why it’s correct (The Key): “Today” points to a current feeling or state, so we use Present Simple “am”.
- Error Analysis: (a) was (Common Mistake: using past tense because the rest of the sentence is past). (d) do (Strong Distractor: “do” cannot be used with the adjective “tired”). (c) be (Structural Error: unconjugated verb).
11 (a) went
- Why it’s correct (The Key): “Last night” is a finished past event. The past of “go” is “went”.
- Error Analysis: (b) go (Common Mistake: using present tense). (c) goed (Structural Error: adding “-ed” to an irregular verb). (d) did go (Strong Distractor: grammatically possible for emphasis, but unnatural here compared to “went”).
12 (d) has
- Why it’s correct (The Key): “Always” and “on Monday mornings” indicate a routine. “My manager” is singular (he/she), so we use “has”.
- Error Analysis: (b) had (Common Mistake: wrong tense). (a) have (Strong Distractor: present tense, but wrong for a singular 3rd person subject). (c) is have (Structural Error).
13 (a) did you go
- Why it’s correct (The Key): Asking about “Saturday night” requires the past simple question structure: Wh-word + did + subject + base verb.
- Error Analysis: (b) do you go (Common Mistake: wrong tense). (c) did you went (Structural Error: double past marking). (d) you went (Strong Distractor: missing the auxiliary “did”).
14 (b) bought
- Why it’s correct (The Key): “Yesterday” requires the past tense. The irregular past of “buy” is “bought”.
- Error Analysis: (a) buy (Common Mistake: using present tense). (c) buyed (Structural Error: applying a regular rule to an irregular verb). (d) was buy (Strong Distractor).
15 (c) enjoy
- Why it’s correct (The Key): “Normally” expresses a general truth or habit.
- Error Analysis: (b) enjoyed (Common Mistake: matching the past tense feeling inappropriately). (a) am enjoy (Structural Error). (d) enjoying (Strong Distractor: missing auxiliary verb).
16 (d) didn’t have
- Why it’s correct (The Key): “Yesterday” is in the past. To form a negative sentence with main verb “have”, use “didn’t have”.
- Error Analysis: (a) don’t have (Common Mistake: wrong tense). (c) didn’t had (Structural Error: double past marking). (b) hadn’t (Strong Distractor: missing “got” or incorrect use of auxiliary for A1 level).
17 (a) visits
- Why it’s correct (The Key): The first half of the sentence uses “every Sunday”, indicating a routine. “She” requires an “s” on the verb.
- Error Analysis: (b) visited (Common Mistake: confusing it with the second half of the sentence which is past tense). (c) visit (Structural Error: missing the “s”). (d) is visit (Strong Distractor).
18 (b) Were
- Why it’s correct (The Key): “On Saturday” is past. To ask a question with “to be” and the subject “you”, we use “Were”.
- Error Analysis: (a) Did (Common Mistake: “did” requires an action base verb, not a prepositional phrase like “at the office”). (c) Was (Strong Distractor: past tense, but wrong for “you”). (d) Are (Structural Error: present tense).
19 (b) read
- Why it’s correct (The Key): This is a list of past actions (“cleaned, washed”). The irregular past tense of “read” is “read” (pronounced /red/).
- Error Analysis: (a) reads (Common Mistake: present tense/wrong subject agreement). (c) readed (Structural Error: treating it as a regular verb). (d) reading (Strong Distractor: wrong form for a parallel list).
20 (a) wore
- Why it’s correct (The Key): “Yesterday” requires the past simple. “Wear” is irregular (wore).
- Error Analysis: (c) wear (Common Mistake: keeping the present tense). (b) weared (Structural Error: treating it as regular). (d) am wear (Strong Distractor).
GRAMMAR POINTS TO REMEMBER
- The “Two Worlds” of Time: When you are at work, talking about what you usually do (every day, on Mondays, normally) means you are in the Present Simple world (e.g., I wake up, I don’t work). When you talk about your weekend (yesterday, on Saturday, last night), you step into the Past Simple world (e.g., I woke up, I didn’t work).
- Questions: For routines, ask “Do you…?” or “Does he…?”. For weekend events, ask “Did you…?”. (Remember: Did + subject + base verb. Never say “Did you went?”).
- Negatives: To say something isn’t a routine, use don’t/doesn’t. To say something didn’t happen yesterday, use didn’t.
- Irregular Verbs are Everywhere: Many common weekend activities are irregular. Memorize them: drink -> drank, go -> went, buy -> bought, wear -> wore, read -> read (pronounced “red”).