1) Marque a alternativa que tenha a forma interrogativa da frase
“Jane is going to paint a picture.”
a) Is going to Jane paint a picture? c) Jane is not going to paint a picture?
b) Is to Jane going to paint a picture? d) Is Jane going to paint a picture?
2) Julgue os itens abaixo (CERTO ou ERRADO), depois marque a sequência CORRETA: ( )
She is going to read a letter.
( ) He is going to swim
( ) The boys and the girls are going to play football
( ) The boys are going to eat the cake.
a) E, C, E, C c) C, C, C, C
b) C, E, E, C d) C, E, C, C
3) Julgue os itens abaixo (CERTO ou ERRADO), depois marque a sequência CORRETA: ( )
Bob Is going to drive a car
( ) They is going to travel to Brazil.
( ) She is not going to drink a coffee.
( ) Are you going to close a Window?
a) E, C, C, C c) C, E, C, C
b) C, C, E, C d) C, C, C, C
MAKE THE SENTENCE USING GOING + TO (NEGATIVE)
A)THE BOYS / RUN / A RACE
______________________________________________
B)THE WOMAN / READ / A BOOK
_____________________________________________
C)THE GIRLS / RIDE / A BIKE
______________________________________________
D)THE MAN / EAT / A SANDWICH
______________________________________________
E)THE DOGS / EAT / HOT DOGS
______________________________________________
SHORT ANSWERS
A) IS SHE GOING TO READ A BOOK? (TRUE)___________________________
B)IS SHE GOING TO SWIMMING? (TRUE)___________________________
C)IS SHE GOING TO TAKE A PICTURE? (FALSE)___________________________
D)IS SHE GOING TO CHAT ONLINE? (FALSE)___________________________
E) IS SHE GOING TO READ A BOOK? (FALSE)___________________________
F)IS SHE GOING TO SWIMMING? (FALSE)___________________________
G)IS SHE GOING TO TAKE A PICTURE? (TRUE)___________________________
H)IS SHE GOING TO CHAT ONLINE? (TRUE)___________________________
MAKE THE SENTENCE USING GOING + TO (INTERROGATIVE)
A)THE BOYS / RUN / A RACE
______________________________________________?
B)THE WOMAN / READ / A BOOK
______________________________________________?
C)THE GIRLS / RIDE / A BIKE
______________________________________________?
D)THE MAN / EAT / A SANDWICH
______________________________________________?
E)THE DOGS / EAT / HOT DOGS
______________________________________________?
F) I / TO WORK
______________________________________________?
G) I / TO FRANCE NEXT MONTH
______________________________________________?
H) THE CAR / HIT THE TO WALL
______________________________________________?
I) IT / TO RAIN THIS AFTERNOON
______________________________________________?
J) HE / TO GRADUATE IN DECEMBER
______________________________________________?
K) THEY / TO DISCUSS THIS TOPIC
______________________________________________?
L) I / TO BUY NEW PANTSS NEXT WEEK
______________________________________________?
M) THEY / TO PLAY SOCCER IN THE WINTER
______________________________________________?
N) WE / TO BE HERE TOMORROW
______________________________________________?
O) YOU / TO STUDY THIS WEEKEND
______________________________________________?
P) ALLYSON / TO GET MARRIED THIS YEAR
______________________________________________?
Q) He / TO HAVE SPANISHto have Spanish classes tonight
MAKE THE SENTENCE USING GOING + TO (AFFIRMATIVE)
A)THE BOYS / RUN / A RACE
______________________________________________
B)THE WOMAN / READ / A BOOK
______________________________________________
C)THE GIRLS / RIDE / A BIKE
______________________________________________
D)THE MAN / EAT / A SANDWICH
______________________________________________
E)THE DOGS / EAT / HOT DOGS
______________________________________________
F) I / TO WORK
______________________________________________
G) I / TO FRANCE NEXT MONTH
______________________________________________
H) THE CAR / HIT THE TO WALL
______________________________________________
I) IT / TO RAIN THIS AFTERNOON
______________________________________________
J) HE / TO GRADUATE IN DECEMBER
______________________________________________
K) THEY / TO DISCUSS THIS TOPIC
______________________________________________
L) I / TO BUY NEW PANTSS NEXT WEEK
______________________________________________
M) THEY / TO PLAY SOCCER IN THE WINTER
______________________________________________
N) WE / TO BE HERE TOMORROW
______________________________________________
O) YOU / TO STUDY THIS WEEKEND
______________________________________________
P) ALLYSON / TO GET MARRIED THIS YEAR
______________________________________________
MAKE THE SENTENCE USING GOING + TO (NEGATIVE)
A)THE BOYS / RUN / A RACE
______________________________________________
B)THE WOMAN / READ / A BOOK
______________________________________________
C)THE GIRLS / RIDE / A BIKE
______________________________________________
D)THE MAN / EAT / A SANDWICH
______________________________________________
E)THE DOGS / EAT / HOT DOGS
______________________________________________
F) I / TO WORK
______________________________________________
G) I / TO FRANCE NEXT MONTH
______________________________________________
H) THE CAR / HIT THE TO WALL
______________________________________________
I) IT / TO RAIN THIS AFTERNOON
______________________________________________
J) HE / TO GRADUATE IN DECEMBER
______________________________________________
K) THEY / TO DISCUSS THIS TOPIC
______________________________________________
L) I / TO BUY NEW PANTSS NEXT WEEK
______________________________________________
M) THEY / TO PLAY SOCCER IN THE WINTER
______________________________________________
N) WE / TO BE HERE TOMORROW
______________________________________________
O) YOU / TO STUDY THIS WEEKEND
______________________________________________
P) ALLYSON / TO GET MARRIED THIS YEAR
______________________________________________
How to use the Simple Past Tense in English Grammar
The simple past is the basic form of the past tense in English grammar, we use it for:
• actions that happened once or repeatedly in the past
Example:Last month a girl from China joined our class.
She was from China.
She showed us where she was from on a map.
• actions that happened one after the other in the past
Example:She came in, introduced herself, and began to talk about her country.
• a new action interrupting an action that was already taking place, together with the past
progressive tense
Example:While she was talking about her home town, the school bell suddenly rang.
• in the second conditional
Example:If I spoke Chinese, I would like to go on holiday to China.
There are four past tenses in English grammar. Besides the past simple, there is the past
progressive, the past perfect simple and the past perfect progressive.
Learn about the differences between English past tenses on Lingolia’s English Tense
Comparison page:
• Tense comparison simple past – past progressive
• Tense comparison simple past – past perfect
• Tense comparison all past tenses
Learn more about the simple aspect and other simple tenses on Lingolia’s tenses timeline.
Signal Words: English Simple Past Tense
The simple past is used to say when something happened, so it is common to use it with
expressions of time and adverbs of frequency.
• Time expressions: yesterday, 2 minutes ago, in 1990, the other day, last Friday, etc.
• Adverbs of frequency: always, often, sometimes, rarely, never, etc.
• How to conjugate the Simple Past
• The verb be
The verb be is irregular in the simple past:
positive negative question
I/he/she/it I was I was not Was I?
you/we/they you were you were not Were you?
We use the contractions wasn’t and weren’t in negative sentences with be in the simple
past.
Examples:I wasn’t on time yesterday. We weren’t interested in the event.
Other verbs
The conjugation of verbs in the simple past is the same for all forms. We add -ed to the
regular verbs, but the irregular verbs have to be learned by heart. In negative sentences
and questions, we use the auxiliary verb did or did not together with the main verb in the
infinitive. The table below shows examples of the conjugation of regular and irregular verbs
in the simple past in positive, negative and interrogative sentences.
positive negative question
I did not play
regular verb I played Did I play?
I didn’t play
I did not speak
irregular verb I spoke Did I speak?
I didn’t speak
We use the contraction didn’t in negative sentences in the simple past.
We always use the infinitive of the verb after the auxiliaries didn’t and did.
Examples:I didn’t know about the party. (not: I didn’t knew …)
Did you have a nice weekend? (not: Did you had …)
Did she say anything? (not: Did she said …)
Simple Past – Spelling Rules
Regular verbs are conjugated by adding -ed to the base infinitive of a verb. However, there
are some exceptions to this rule:
• When a verb ends in -e , we only add -d.
Example:love – loved (not: loveed)
• The final consonant is doubled after a short stressed vowel.
Example:admit – admitted
• The final consonant -l is always doubled after a vowel in British English but not in American
English.
Example:travel – travelled (British), traveled (American)
• A -y at the end of the word is replaced by an -i.
Example:hurry – hurried
• Contractions
We can only use contractions in the negative form of the simple past. We do this by
combining the form of be/did and not.
long form contraction
was not wasn’t
were not weren’t
did not didn’t
----- Write the Simple past of the verbs below:
a) TRAIN: ______________ g) GO: ______________
b) CLEAN: ______________ h) BECOME: ______________
c) HELP: ______________ i) LIVE: ______________
d) PRACTICE: ______________ j) CARRY: ______________
e) LEAVE: ______________ K) STUDY: ______________
f) SEND: ______________ L) GO: ______________
COMPLEET THE SENTENSE WITH THE SIMPLE PAST OF THE VERBS:
A) I _________ THE HOUSE THREE TIMES YESTERDAY (TO CLEAN - AFFIRMATIVE)
B) SHE _________ THE WINDOWS BECAUSE IT WAS TOO HOT IN HERE (TO OPEN -
AFFIRMATIVE)
C) THE CLASS _________ AT 8A.M (TO BEGIN - NEGATIVE)
D) WE _________ TO BE A DOCTOR WHEN HE WAS A KID(TO WANT - AFFIRMATIVE)
E) THEY _________ THE PARTY (TO ENJOY - NEGATIVE)
A. Complete the sentences, put the verb into the correct form, positive or negative. (simple
past tense)
1. It was warm, so I _________ off my coat. (take)
2. The film wasn't very good. I _________ it very much. (enjoy)
3. I knew Sarah was very busy, so I _________ her. (disturb)
4. I was very tired, so I _________ to bed early. (go)
5. The bed was very uncomfortable. I _________ very well. (sleep)
6. Sue wasn't hungry, so she _________ anything. (eat)
7. We went to Kate's house but she _________ at home. (be)
8. It was a funny situation but nobody _________ (laugh)
9. The window was open and a bird _________ into the room. (fly)
10. The hotel wasn't very expensive. It _________ very much. (cost)
11. I was in a hurry, so I _________ time to phone you. (have)
12. It was hard work carrying the bags. They _________ very heavy. (be)
B. Complete the exercise with the verbs inside the box. (simple past tense)
buy catch cost drink
fall hurt sell spend
teach throw win write
13. Mozart _________ more than 600 pieces of music.
14. 'How did you learn to drive?' 'My father _________ me.'
15. We couldn't afford to keep our car, so we _________ it.
16. I was very thirsty. I _________ the water very quickly.
17. Paul and I played tennis yesterday. He's much better than me, so he _________ easily.
18-19. Don _________ down the stairs this morning and _________ his leg.
20-21. Jim _________ the ball to Sue, who _________ t.
22-24. Ann _________ a lot of money yesterday. She _________ a dress. It _________ 100.
1. William (visit) _________his grandparents last weekend.
2. Jane (arrive) _________an hour ago.
3. We (go) _________to Bob's birthday party yesterday.
4. I (be) _________on holiday last week.
5. She (see) _________fire.
6.
Complete the sentences in the negative form.
1. I phoned Lucy last night. → I _____________Lucy last night.
2. You tidied up your room. → You _____________up your room.
3. Olivia became an actress. → Olivia _____________an actress.
4. We found the treasure. → We _____________the treasure.
5. He spoke Spanish. → He _____________Spanish.
Construct questions.
1. (you/dance) _____________at the party last night?
2. (she/do) _____________her homework?
3. (Robert/work) _____________at the post office?
4. (they/help) _____________you with the washing-up?
5. When (I/say) _____________that?
1) I _____________(not/drink) any beer last night.
2) She _____________(get on) the bus in the centre of the city.
3) What time _____________(he/get up) yesterday?
4) Where _____________(you/get off) the train?
5) I _____________(not/change) trains at Victoria.
6) We _____________(wake up) very late.
7) What _____________(he/give) his mother for Christmas?
8) I _____________(receive) £300 when my uncle died.
9) We _____________(not/use) the computer last night.
10) _____________(she/make) good coffee?
11) They _____________(live) in Paris.
12) She _____________(read) the newspaper yesterday.
13) I _____________(not/watch) TV.
14) He _____________(not/study) for the exam.
15) _____________(he/call) you?
16) _____________(I/forget) something?
17) What time _____________(the film/start)?
18) He _____________(have) a shower.
19) Why _____________(you/come)?
20) _____________(he/go) to the party?
Past Simple – Exercise
Fill in the past form.
1. Mammoths _________big animals, bigger than elephants. (be)
2. Mammoths _________ 100 years ago. (not live)
3. Mammoths _________ a long time ago. (live)
4. Mammoths _________ meat. They _________grass. (not eat / eat)
5. They _________ two large tusks about three metres long. (have)
6. I _________ by credit card. I _________cash. (pay / not pay)
7. He _________ some milk. He _________any water. (drink / not drink)
8. She only _________ a pound. She _________3 pounds. (spend / not spend)
9. I _________ some elephants. I _________any lions. (see / not see)
10. They _________ in the sea, but they _________ in the lake. (swim / not swim)
Past Simple - Exercise 2
Complete these sentences. Use the verbs below.
clean - die - enjoy - end - happen - live - open - play - rain - repair - start - stay - want – watch
1. Yesterday evening I _________TV.
2. I only _________ my teeth four times last week.
3. Bruce _________ his mountain bike yesterday evening.
4. The concert last night _________ at 7.30 and _________ at 10 o'clock.
5. The accident _________ last Sunday afternoon.
6. When I was a child, I _________ to be a lawyer.
7. Mozart _________from 1756 to 1791.
8. We _________ our holiday last week.
9. Today the weather is nice, but yesterday it _________.
10. It was hot in the room, so I _________the window.
11. The weather was good yesterday afternoon, so we _________ tennis.
12. William Shakespeare _________ in 1616.
Past Simple - Exercise 3
Put the sentences from the present into the past simple.
1. He always goes to work by car. Yesterday he _________to work by bus.
2. They always get up early. This morning they _________ up late.
3. Bill often loses his key. He _________one last Saturday.
4. I write a letter to Jane every week. Last week I _________two letters.
5. She meets her friends every evening. She _________ them yesterday evening, too.
6. I usually read two newspapers every day. I only _________a newspaper yesterday.
7. They come to my house every Friday. Last Friday they _________, too.
8. We usually go to the cinema on Sunday. We _________ to the cinema last Sunday, too.
9. Tom always has a shower in the morning. Tom _________ a shower this morning, too.
10. They buy a new car every year. Last year they _________ a new car, too.
11. I eat an orange every day. Yesterday I _________two oranges.
12. We usually do our shopping on Monday. We _________ our shopping last Monday, too.
13. Ann often takes photos. Last weekend she _________ some photos.
14. We leave at 8.30 every morning. But yesterday we _________ at 8.00.
Tell the story – fill in the past simple tense
On Friday, the children _________ (talk) about a day out together in the country. The next
morning, they _________ (go) to the country with their two dogs and _________ (play)
together. Ben and Dave _________ (have) some kites. Some time later the dogs
_________ (be) not there. So they _________ (call) them and _________ (look) for them in
the forest. After half an hour the children _________ (find) them and _________ (take) them
back. Charlie _________ (be) very happy to see them again. At lunch time Nick _________
(go) to the bikes and _________ (fetch) the basket with some meat sandwiches. Then they
_________ (play) football. Nick and Dave _________ (win). In the evening they _________
(ride) home.
Past Simple Tense - Exercise 5
Put the sentences into past tense.
1. She wins the money. She _________the money.
2. They can eat. They _________eat.
3. She must go. She _________go.
4. We go shopping. We _________ shopping.
5. She runs to school. She _________to school.
6. I can walk. I _________ walk.
7. We buy a new car. We _________a new car.
8. They leave the party. They _________ the party.
9. We collect coins. We _________coins.
10. You are allowed to eat. You _________ allowed to eat.
11. Peter eats a hamburger. Peter _________a hamburger.
12. She has to wash it. She _________to wash it.
13. They want to go home. They _________ to go home.
14. I close the windows. I _________ the windows.
15. She studies for a test. She _________ for a test.
16. They can drive. They _________ drive.
17. Sam likes to laugh. Sam _________ to laugh.
18. Mary goes home. Mary _________ home.
19. We write a letter. We _________ a letter.
20. She opens the window. She _________ the window.
Simple Past - Exercise 6
Fill in the correct simple past forms.
The students of class 8B _________(do) a project last week. First the pupils
_________(choose) what they wanted to do. Then they _________(get) information from
books and brochures, and they _________(talk) to a lot of people. They _________ (find)
some interesting photos in the library. Their _________ (help) them when they
_________(ask) her. Then they_________ (make) a poster and a video _________ (tell) the
other groups about their project.
A project about Cornwall - Fill in the correct simple past forms.
arrange • bring • choose • decide • find • get • go • say • start
Last month Jenny, Nick and Ben _________to do a project together. They_________
Cornwall. First Jenny to a travel agency and _________some brochures. Nick and
_________ some interesting books in the library. Then they _________work. A week later
they _________all their material to school and it on a poster. ‘Your presentation is
interesting’, _________Miss Hunt.
