Regular Verbs – English Grammar Exercises for A1
Read the sentences below. Imagine you are talking to your classmate about how hard you studied for today’s English test. Choose the correct form of the regular verb to complete each sentence.
1 Last night, I ______ very hard for today’s English test.
(a) work
(b) works
(c) worked
2 I ______ my textbook and read the first chapter again.
(a) opened
(b) openned
(c) opening
3 My older brother ______ me with my vocabulary words.
(a) helping
(b) helped
(c) help
4 We ______ to the audio recordings together to practice listening.
(a) listened
(b) listend
(c) listens
5 After that, I ______ my answers in the workbook twice.
(a) check
(b) checked
(c) checkked
6 I ______ all the grammar rules until midnight.
(a) studyed
(b) studied
(c) studies
7 I ______ to memorize the new words, but it was a bit difficult.
(a) tried
(b) tryed
(c) trying
8 I also ______ my pronunciation in front of the mirror.
(a) practiced
(b) practiceed
(c) practicing
9 I ______ playing video games so I could focus completely on the test.
(a) stopped
(b) stoped
(c) stops
10 My mom ______ me if I wanted a late-night snack.
(a) ask
(b) askt
(c) asked
11 I ______ that I wasn’t hungry because I was too nervous.
(a) answered
(b) answering
(c) answerred
12 I didn’t ______ to watch TV at all yesterday.
(a) wanted
(b) want
(c) wants
13 ______ you review the lesson about adjectives?
(a) Were
(b) Do
(c) Did
14 I ______ my notes with a friend on the phone for an hour.
(a) discussed
(b) discuss
(c) discused
15 We ______ our study session carefully to cover all the topics.
(a) planed
(b) planned
(c) planning
16 I didn’t ______ much time resting yesterday afternoon.
(a) enjoyed
(b) enjoys
(c) enjoy
17 Did the teacher ______ you a message about the homework?
(a) texted
(b) text
(c) texting
18 I ______ the heavy dictionary to school today just in case.
(a) carryed
(b) carries
(c) carried
19 I ______ my alarm clock so I wouldn’t be late for the test.
(a) used
(b) useed
(c) use
20 After I ______ my bedroom door, I walked quickly to the bus stop.
(a) close
(b) closed
(c) didn’t closed
ANSWER KEY & EXPLANATIONS
1 (c)
Explanation:
- Why it is correct: “Worked” is the regular past tense of “work.” The context is “Last night,” indicating a completed action in the past.
- Why the others are wrong: (a) “work” is present tense. (b) “works” is third-person singular present tense, which is a common grammar mistake when the subject is “I”.
2 (a)
Explanation:
- Why it is correct: “Opened” adds “-ed” to the base verb.
- Why the others are wrong: (b) “openned” is a common spelling mistake; we do not double the ‘n’ in open because the stress is on the first syllable (O-pen). (c) “opening” is a gerund/participle and lacks the “to be” verb.
3 (b)
Explanation:
- Why it is correct: “Helped” is the correct past simple form.
- Why the others are wrong: (a) “helping” is missing an auxiliary verb (was helping). (c) “help” is present tense, ignoring the past context of the story.
4 (a)
Explanation:
- Why it is correct: “Listened” adds “-ed” to the base verb.
- Why the others are wrong: (b) “listend” is a common mistake where students drop the ‘e’. (c) “listens” is present tense.
5 (b)
Explanation:
- Why it is correct: “Checked” simply adds “-ed” to the base verb.
- Why the others are wrong: (a) “check” is present tense. (c) “checkked” is a spelling error; we do not double the ‘k’ because it is already a double consonant sound (ck).
6 (b)
Explanation:
- Why it is correct: For verbs ending in a consonant + “y” (study), we change the “y” to “i” and add “-ed” -> “studied”.
- Why the others are wrong: (a) “studyed” is a very common A1 spelling mistake (forgetting the y to i rule). (c) “studies” is present tense.
7 (a)
Explanation:
- Why it is correct: Similar to study, “try” ends in a consonant + “y”, so it becomes “tried”.
- Why the others are wrong: (b) “tryed” forgets the y to i rule. (c) “trying” is the continuous form.
8 (a)
Explanation:
- Why it is correct: For verbs ending in “e” (practice), we just add “-d” -> “practiced”.
- Why the others are wrong: (b) “practiceed” is a common mistake where students add a full “-ed” instead of just “-d”. (c) “practicing” is the continuous form.
9 (a)
Explanation:
- Why it is correct: “Stop” is a one-syllable verb ending in Consonant-Vowel-Consonant (CVC). We must double the final consonant before adding “-ed” -> “stopped”.
- Why the others are wrong: (b) “stoped” is a common mistake missing the double ‘p’. (c) “stops” is present tense.
10 (c)
Explanation:
- Why it is correct: “Asked” is the correct past simple form.
- Why the others are wrong: (a) “ask” is present tense. (b) “askt” is a common mistake because “-ed” sounds like a “t” when spoken, confusing A1 learners.
11 (a)
Explanation:
- Why it is correct: “Answered” simply adds “-ed” to the base verb.
- Why the others are wrong: (b) “answering” is continuous. (c) “answerred” incorrectly doubles the ‘r’ (the stress is on the first syllable: AN-swer).
12 (b)
Explanation:
- Why it is correct: In a negative past simple sentence, we use “didn’t” + the base verb (“want”).
- Why the others are wrong: (a) “wanted” is a very common mistake (using the past tense verb after “didn’t”). (c) “wants” adds an unnecessary ‘s’.
13 (c)
Explanation:
- Why it is correct: “Did” is the correct auxiliary verb to form a question in the past simple.
- Why the others are wrong: (a) “Were” is a common mistake; students confuse the “to be” verb with the “do” auxiliary verb. We don’t use “were” with a main verb like “review”. (b) “Do” is present tense.
14 (a)
Explanation:
- Why it is correct: “Discussed” adds “-ed” to the base verb.
- Why the others are wrong: (b) “discuss” is present tense. (c) “discused” is a spelling error, dropping an ‘s’.
15 (b)
Explanation:
- Why it is correct: “Plan” is a CVC verb. We double the final consonant -> “planned”.
- Why the others are wrong: (a) “planed” is a common mistake (it actually means using a tool on wood or flying an airplane). (c) “planning” is continuous.
16 (c)
Explanation:
- Why it is correct: After “didn’t”, we must use the base verb “enjoy”.
- Why the others are wrong: (a) “enjoyed” is the double-past mistake (didn’t + past verb). (b) “enjoys” is incorrect grammar.
17 (b)
Explanation:
- Why it is correct: In a past simple question (Did + subject + base verb), the main verb must be in its base form -> “text”.
- Why the others are wrong: (a) “texted” is the common double-past mistake. (c) “texting” is continuous.
18 (c)
Explanation:
- Why it is correct: “Carry” ends in consonant + “y”, so it changes to “carried”.
- Why the others are wrong: (a) “carryed” is the classic A1 spelling mistake. (b) “carries” is present tense.
19 (a)
Explanation:
- Why it is correct: “Use” ends in “e”, so we only add “-d” -> “used”.
- Why the others are wrong: (b) “useed” incorrectly adds “-ed”. (c) “use” is present tense.
20 (b)
Explanation:
- Why it is correct: “Closed” is the correct past simple form (close + d).
- Why the others are wrong: (a) “close” is present tense. (c) “didn’t closed” is a structural error mixing the negative auxiliary with a past tense verb.
GRAMMAR POINTS TO REMEMBER
Here is what you need to remember about Regular Verbs in the Past Simple:
- The Golden Rule: Most verbs just need -ed at the end (work -> worked, listen -> listened).
- The “E” Rule: If the verb already ends in -e, just add -d (use -> used, close -> closed).
- The “Y” Rule: If the verb ends in a consonant + -y, change the -y to -i and add -ed (study -> studied, try -> tried). Note: If it ends in a vowel + -y, just add -ed (play -> played).
- The Double Consonant (CVC) Rule: If a short verb ends in Consonant-Vowel-Consonant, double the last letter before adding -ed (stop -> stopped, plan -> planned).
- Negatives & Questions: Always use did not (didn’t) or Did with the base verb! Never use the “-ed” form after “did”.
- Correct: I didn’t want. / Did you text?
- Wrong: I didn’t wanted. / Did you texted?