Simple Past Tense – English Grammar Exercises for A1
Weekend Recount: Monday Morning Catch-up
Read the short conversations and sentences about last weekend. Choose the correct option (a, b, or c) to fill in the blank.
1 I ___ very tired on Saturday morning, so I slept until 10 a.m.
(a) was
(b) were
(c) am
2 We ___ tennis in the park yesterday afternoon.
(a) play
(b) played
(c) plaied
3 The weather ___ sunny and warm all weekend.
(a) were
(b) is
(c) was
4 I ___ my room before my friends arrived for lunch.
(a) cleaned
(b) cleand
(c) cleans
5 My parents ___ at home on Sunday; they visited my aunt.
(a) was
(b) were
(c) are
6 “___ you at the cinema on Saturday night?” “Yes, I was. The film was great!”
(a) Was
(b) Did
(c) Were
7 I wanted to watch a movie, but I ___ the actors in it.
(a) didn’t like
(b) didn’t liked
(c) don’t liked
8 She ___ hard for her English test all weekend.
(a) studyed
(b) studied
(c) studyd
9 We ___ to some great music at the birthday party.
(a) listen
(b) listend
(c) listened
10 “Did you cook dinner on Sunday?” “No, I ___.”
(a) didn’t
(b) wasn’t
(c) haven’t
11 My friend ___ me on Sunday evening to talk about work.
(a) phonned
(b) phoned
(c) phoning
12 I ___ at home all weekend because it rained heavily.
(a) staied
(b) stay
(c) stayed
13 The shops ___ open on Sunday morning, so I stayed in bed.
(a) weren’t
(b) wasn’t
(c) didn’t
14 “___ you relax on Sunday?” “Yes, I watched TV.”
(a) Were
(b) Did
(c) Was
15 We ___ our trip to the museum carefully on Friday night.
(a) planned
(b) planed
(c) plant
16 It started to rain, so we ___ walking and went into a café.
(a) stoped
(b) stopped
(c) stop
17 Why ___ you so quiet during lunch yesterday?
(a) did
(b) was
(c) were
18 I ___ my heavy bags to my apartment after shopping.
(a) carried
(b) carryed
(c) carred
19 “___ you like the food at the new restaurant?” “No, it ___ terrible!”
(a) Were / was
(b) Did / did
(c) Did / was
20 We ___ to travel by train because it was cheaper.
(a) decidded
(b) decided
(c) decide
ANSWER KEY & EXPLANATIONS
1 (a) was
- Explanation: “I” is a singular subject, so the past tense of “to be” is “was”. (b) is a common mistake for learners mixing up singular/plural forms. (c) is a structural error because it is in the present tense, but the context is past (“Saturday morning”).
2 (b) played
- Explanation: “Play” is a regular verb. We simply add “-ed” to form the past tense. (a) is the present tense. (c) is a common spelling mistake; verbs ending in a vowel + “y” (like play) just take “-ed”, the “y” does not change to “i”.
3 (c) was
- Explanation: “The weather” is an uncountable, singular noun (it), so it takes “was”. (a) is for plural subjects. (b) is the present tense.
4 (a) cleaned
- Explanation: “Clean” is a regular verb that takes “-ed”. (b) is a structural error (missing the ‘e’). (c) is the present tense with an “s” for third-person singular.
5 (b) were
- Explanation: “My parents” is a plural subject (they), so the correct past tense of “to be” is “were”. (a) is a common mistake applying the singular form to a plural noun. (c) is present tense.
6 (c) Were
- Explanation: The question asks about a state of being in a location (“at the cinema”), and the subject is “you”. The correct past tense form is “Were”. (a) is used for I/he/she/it. (b) “Did” requires an action verb in the sentence, which is missing here.
7 (a) didn’t like
- Explanation: To make a negative past simple sentence with an action verb, we use “didn’t” + base verb. (b) is a very common learner mistake (using didn’t + past form “-ed”). (c) is a structural error (present negative with a past suffix).
8 (b) studied
- Explanation: For verbs ending in a consonant + “y” (like study), we change the “y” to “i” and add “-ed”. (a) and (c) are common spelling mistakes.
9 (c) listened
- Explanation: “Listen” is a regular verb, taking “-ed”. (a) is the present tense. (b) is a spelling error (missing the ‘e’).
10 (a) didn’t
- Explanation: In short answers to “Did…?” questions, we use “did” or “didn’t”. (b) is incorrect because “wasn’t” is the verb “to be”, not an auxiliary for action verbs. (c) is present perfect.
11 (b) phoned
- Explanation: For verbs already ending in “e” (phone), we just add “d”. (a) is a spelling mistake (doubling the ‘n’ is incorrect here). (c) is the present participle (-ing) form.
12 (c) stayed
- Explanation: “Stay” is a regular verb ending in a vowel + “y”. It simply takes “-ed”. (a) is a spelling mistake where the learner incorrectly changes “y” to “i”. (b) is present tense.
13 (a) weren’t
- Explanation: “The shops” is a plural subject (they), so the negative past of “to be” is “weren’t”. (b) is for singular subjects. (c) is the auxiliary for action verbs, but there is no action verb here (open is an adjective in this context).
14 (b) Did
- Explanation: “Relax” is an action verb. To ask a past simple question with an action verb, we use “Did” + subject + base verb. (a) and (c) are forms of “to be” and cannot be used with another base action verb.
15 (a) planned
- Explanation: For one-syllable verbs ending in a single vowel + single consonant (p-l-a-n), we double the final consonant before adding “-ed” (planned). (b) is a common spelling mistake. (c) is a completely different word (a noun/verb for trees/flowers).
16 (b) stopped
- Explanation: Similar to Q15, “stop” is a one-syllable verb ending in a single vowel + single consonant. We double the “p” before adding “-ed”. (a) is a spelling error. (c) is present tense.
17 (c) were
- Explanation: The sentence asks about a state (“quiet” is an adjective), with the subject “you”. The correct form is “were”. (a) is incorrect because there is no action verb. (b) is for singular subjects (I/he/she/it).
18 (a) carried
- Explanation: “Carry” ends in a consonant + “y”. We drop the “y”, change it to “i”, and add “-ed”. (b) and (c) are structural spelling errors.
19 (c) Did / was
- Explanation: The first clause asks about an action (“like”), requiring the auxiliary “Did”. The second clause describes a state (“terrible”), requiring the “to be” verb “was” for the subject “it”. (a) uses “Were” incorrectly with an action verb. (b) incorrectly uses “did” with an adjective.
20 (b) decided
- Explanation: “Decide” ends in “e”, so we only add “d”. (a) is a spelling error (doubling the ‘d’ is incorrect). (c) is present tense.
GRAMMAR POINTS TO REMEMBER
- “To be” in the Past :
- Use was / wasn’t for singular subjects (I, he, she, it).
- Use were / weren’t for plural subjects (you, we, they).
- Rule: Never use “did/didn’t” with adjectives or places (e.g., “I was tired,” not “I did tired”).
- Regular Verbs :
- Most verbs: just add -ed (play -> played, listen -> listened).
- Verbs ending in -e: just add -d (phone -> phoned, decide -> decided).
- Verbs ending in a consonant + y: change y to i and add -ed (study -> studied, carry -> carried).
- One-syllable verbs ending in vowel + consonant: double the final consonant and add -ed (stop -> stopped, plan -> planned).
- Negatives & Questions :
- Always use didn’t + Base Verb for negatives (I didn’t like – NOT I didn’t liked).
- Always use Did + Subject + Base Verb for questions (Did you relax? – NOT Were you relax?).