Simple Past Tense – English Grammar Exercises for A1
Writing a Service Review: “My Dinner Last Night”
You are writing a review on a food delivery and booking app about your dinner at a new restaurant last night. Read the sentences and choose the correct option (A, B, or C) to complete your review.
1 “I ______ this restaurant with my family last night.”
(A) visit
(B) visited
(C) visitted
2 “The food ______ very delicious and fresh.”
(A) were
(B) is
(C) was
3 “The waiters ______ really polite and helpful to us.”
(A) were
(B) was
(C) are
4 “We ______ two large pizzas and a fresh salad.”
(A) ordered
(B) order
(C) orderred
5 “The atmosphere in the restaurant ______ perfect for a family dinner.”
(A) did
(B) was
(C) were
6 “However, I ______ the loud music in the background.”
(A) wasn’t like
(B) didn’t liked
(C) didn’t like
7 “We ______ the special chocolate dessert, and it was amazing.”
(A) tryed
(B) tried
(C) trid
8 “The chef ______ the steak perfectly.”
(A) cooked
(B) cookked
(C) cook
9 “We ______ long for our food to arrive.”
(A) didn’t waited
(B) didn’t wait
(C) weren’t wait
10 “______ the price expensive? No, it was very cheap.”
(A) Was
(B) Were
(C) Did
11 “The manager ______ by our table to ask about our meal.”
(A) stop
(B) stoped
(C) stopped
12 “My friends and I ______ our dinner very much.”
(A) enjoyed
(B) enjoy
(C) enjoied
13 “My sister ______ happy with her drink because it was warm.”
(A) didn’t
(B) weren’t
(C) wasn’t
14 “We ______ to leave a big tip for the excellent service.”
(A) decided
(B) decideed
(C) decide
15 “I ______ a birthday cake into the restaurant, and they stored it for me.”
(A) carred
(B) carryed
(C) carried
16 “Did you enjoy the restaurant? Yes, I ______.”
(A) did
(B) was
(C) enjoyed
17 “The waiter accidentally ______ my fork, but he quickly brought a new one.”
(A) drop
(B) dropped
(C) droped
18 “The soup ______ cold, so we ______ finish it.”
(A) was / wasn’t
(B) was / didn’t
(C) did / didn’t
19 “I ______ to pay by card, but the machine didn’t work.”
(A) wantted
(B) want
(C) wanted
20 “There ______ many people, but the service ______ slow.”
(A) were / wasn’t
(B) was / didn’t
(C) were / didn’t
ANSWER KEY & EXPLANATIONS
1 (B) visited
- Why it’s correct: “Visit” is a regular verb. We simply add “-ed” to form the past tense.
- Why the others are wrong: Option A is the present tense. Option C is a spelling error (we do not double the ‘t’ because the stress is on the first syllable: VI-sit).
2 (C) was
- Why it’s correct: “The food” is an uncountable, singular noun (it), so the past tense of “to be” is “was”.
- Why the others are wrong: Option A is for plural subjects. Option B is the present tense.
3 (A) were
- Why it’s correct: “The waiters” is a plural subject (they), so it takes the plural past form “were”.
- Why the others are wrong: Option B is a common mistake (using singular “was” for a plural noun). Option C is the present tense.
4 (A) ordered
- Why it’s correct: “Order” is a regular verb; simply add “-ed”.
- Why the others are wrong: Option B is the present tense. Option C is a spelling error (do not double the ‘r’).
5 (B) was
- Why it’s correct: “The atmosphere” is a singular subject (it), so we use “was”.
- Why the others are wrong: Option A “did” is an auxiliary for action verbs, but “perfect” is an adjective. Option C is for plural subjects.
6 (C) didn’t like
- Why it’s correct: To make a negative statement with an action verb (“like”), we use “didn’t” + the base form of the verb.
- Why the others are wrong: Option A incorrectly mixes the “to be” verb (“wasn’t”) with an action verb. Option B is the classic “double past” error (didn’t + liked).
7 (B) tried
- Why it’s correct: “Try” ends in a consonant + “y”. We drop the “y”, change it to “i”, and add “-ed”.
- Why the others are wrong: Options A and C are common spelling mistakes for this specific rule.
8 (A) cooked
- Why it’s correct: “Cook” is a regular verb taking “-ed”.
- Why the others are wrong: Option B is a spelling error (never double the ‘k’). Option C is the present tense.
9 (B) didn’t wait
- Why it’s correct: Negative actions require “didn’t” + the base verb (“wait”).
- Why the others are wrong: Option A makes the double past mistake (didn’t + waited). Option C incorrectly uses “weren’t” with an action verb.
10 (A) Was
- Why it’s correct: “The price” is a singular subject, and the question asks about an adjective (“expensive”). Therefore, we use “Was”.
- Why the others are wrong: Option B is for plural subjects. Option C “Did” requires an action verb in the sentence.
11 (C) stopped
- Why it’s correct: “Stop” ends in a single vowel + single consonant (o-p). You must double the “p” before adding “-ed”.
- Why the others are wrong: Option A is the present tense. Option B is a basic spelling error.
12 (A) enjoyed
- Why it’s correct: “Enjoy” ends in a vowel + “y” (o-y). For these verbs, simply add “-ed” without changing the “y”.
- Why the others are wrong: Option B is the present tense. Option C is a common mistake where learners incorrectly apply the “change y to i” rule.
13 (C) wasn’t
- Why it’s correct: “My sister” is a singular subject, and “happy” is an adjective. The negative singular past of “to be” is “wasn’t”.
- Why the others are wrong: Option A “didn’t” requires an action verb. Option B is for plural subjects.
14 (A) decided
- Why it’s correct: “Decide” already ends in “e”, so we simply add “-d”.
- Why the others are wrong: Option B is a spelling error (adding “-ed” when there is already an “e”). Option C is the present tense.
15 (C) carried
- Why it’s correct: “Carry” ends in a consonant + “y” (r-y). We must change the “y” to “i” and add “-ed”.
- Why the others are wrong: Options A and B are common spelling errors.
16 (A) did
- Why it’s correct: The question asks “Did you enjoy…?”. The short positive answer must match the auxiliary verb: “Yes, I did.”
- Why the others are wrong: Option B uses “was”, which doesn’t match the question. Option C repeats the main verb, which is unnatural for short answers in English.
17 (B) dropped
- Why it’s correct: “Drop” is a short, one-syllable verb ending in a single vowel + single consonant (o-p). We must double the final consonant before adding “-ed”.
- Why the others are wrong: Option A is the present tense. Option C is a basic spelling error.
18 (B) was / didn’t
- Why it’s correct: The first blank describes a state (“cold”), requiring “was”. The second blank negates an action verb (“finish”), requiring “didn’t”.
- Why the others are wrong: Option A incorrectly uses “wasn’t” before the base verb “finish”. Option C incorrectly uses “did” for a state of being.
19 (C) wanted
- Why it’s correct: “Want” is a regular verb; simply add “-ed”.
- Why the others are wrong: Option A is a spelling error (do not double the ‘t’ because it follows a consonant, ‘n’). Option B is the present tense.
20 (A) were / wasn’t
- Why it’s correct: We use “There were” because “many people” is plural. In the second clause, “the service” is singular, and “slow” is an adjective, so we use “wasn’t”.
- Why the others are wrong: Option B uses “was” for a plural noun and “didn’t” with an adjective. Option C correctly uses “were”, but incorrectly uses “didn’t” with the adjective “slow”.
GRAMMAR POINTS TO REMEMBER
- Evaluating the Experience (States & Descriptions):
- When rating the food, atmosphere, or service, use was/were or wasn’t/weren’t.
- Examples: The food was delicious. The waiters were polite. The service wasn’t slow.
- Rule: Do not use “did” or “didn’t” with adjectives!
- Narrating the Events (Action Verbs):
- When telling the reader what you or the staff actually did, use regular verbs ending in -ed (e.g., ordered, visited, cooked).
- Watch out for tricky spelling:
- Double consonant: stopped, dropped.
- Change ‘y’ to ‘i’: tried, carried (but enjoyed because of the vowel before ‘y’).
- Complaining about what didn’t happen:
- If you need to write a negative review about something the restaurant failed to do, use didn’t + Base Verb (e.g., We didn’t wait long. I didn’t like the music.).
- Remember to avoid the “double past” error (didn’t liked is incorrect).