Exercise 1: Fill in the blanks with past simple

1. I (eat) ____________ dinner at six o’clock yesterday.

2. A: ____________ Helen (drive) ____________ to work? – B: Yes, she ____________.
3. My neighbor (buy) ____________ a new car last week.
4. They (go) ____________ to Italy on their last summer holiday.
5. ____________ they (swim) ____________ at the beach? – B: No, they ____________.
6. My family and I (see) ____________ a comedy movie last night.
7. First, we (do) ____________ exercise, and then we (drink) ____________ some water.
8. Suddenly, the animal jumped and (bite) ____________ my hand.
9. What time (do) ____________ you (get up) ____________ this morning?
10. The Wright brothers (fly) ____________ the first airplane in 1903.
11. I think I (hear) ____________ a strange sound outside the door one minute ago.
12. When I was ten years old, I (break) ____________ my arm. It really (hurt) ____________.
13. The police (catch) ____________ all three of the bank robbers last week.
14. How many times (do) ____________ you (read) ____________ that book?
15. Unfortunately, I (forget) ____________ to (bring) ____________ my money.
Exercise 2: Change these sentences into past simple.
1. He goes to the swimming pool because he likes swimming.
→ ____________________________________________________________
2. They have dinner at nine o’clock.
→ ____________________________________________________________
3. Helen eats too many sweets.
→ ____________________________________________________________

4. I buy the newspaper in the shop.

→ ____________________________________________________________
5. We get up at eight o’clock and go to school.
→ ____________________________________________________________
6. Does she buy the newspaper in the shop over there?
→ ____________________________________________________________
7. Do they do their homework in the evening?
→ ____________________________________________________________
8. Do they have a good holiday?
→ ____________________________________________________________
9. Do they find any animal in the forest?
→ ____________________________________________________________
10. Is it dark when she gets up in the morning?
→ ____________________________________________________________
Exercise 3: Give the correct form of the verbs using past simple.

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.

Exercise 4: Give the correct form of the verbs and answer the questions.
Yesterday (be) ______ Sunday. Nam (get) ____________ up at six. He (do) ____________ his
morning exercises. He (take) ____________ a shower, (comb) ____________ hair, and then he (have)
____________ breakfast with his parents. Nam (eat) ____________ a bowl of noodles and (drink)
____________ a glass of milk for his breakfast.
After breakfast, he (help) ____________ Mom clean the table. After that, he (brush) ____________
his teeth, (put) ____________ on clean clothes, and (go) ____________ to his grandparents’ house.
He (have) ____________ lunch with his grandparents. He (return) ____________ to his house at three
o’clock.
He (do) ____________ his homework. He (eat) ____________ dinner at 6.30.
After dinner, his parents (take) ____________ him to the movie theater. It (be) ____________ a very
interesting film. They (come) ____________ back home at 9.30.
Nam (go) ____________ to bed at ten o’clock.
Questions:
1. What day was yesterday? .................................................................................
2. What time did Nam get up? .............................................................................
3. What did he do after breakfast? .......................................................................
4. Who did he have lunch with? ..........................................................................
5. What time did he have dinner? ........................................................................
6. What time did Nam go to bed? ........................................................................
Exercise 5: Using the given words to write a sentence in past simple.
1. I/ go swimming/ yesterday.
→ _____________________________________________
2. Mrs. Nhung/ wash/ the dishes.
→ _____________________________________________
3. my mother/ go shopping/ with/ friends/ in/ park.
→ _____________________________________________
4. Lan/ cook/ chicken noodles/ dinner.
→ _____________________________________________
 5. Nam/ I/ study/ hard/ last weekend.
→ _____________________________________________
6. my father/ play/ golf/ yesterday.
→ _____________________________________________
7. last night/ Phong/ listen/ music/ for two hours.
→ _____________________________________________
8. they/ have/ nice/ weekend.
→ _____________________________________________

Exercise 1: Fill in the blanks with past simple or past continuous.

1. The student (talk) ________________ when the teacher (arrive) _______.
2. He (cross) ________________ the street when he (see) ______________ an accident.
3. The baby (sleep) ________________ when I (knock) ________________ the door.
4. We (watch) ________________ the film when the electricity (go out) ________________.
5. At 9 o’clock last night, I ________________ (do) my homework while my sister (listen)
________________ to music.
6. Peter (walk) ________________ the dog at 5 p.m yesterday afternoon.
7. I (go) ________________ home when I (meet) ________________ my old friends.
8. What ________ (you / do) ________________ when I ________________ (come)?
9. ________________ (he / study) when you (arrive) ________________?
10. While we (have) ________________ a picnic, it (start) ________________ to rain.
Exercise 2: Fill in the blanks with past simple or past continuous.
1. I (walk) ________________ down the street when it began to rain.
2. At this time last year, I (attend) ________________ an English course.
3. Jim (stand) ________________ under the tree when he heard an explosion.
4. The boy fell and hurt himself while he (ride) ________________ a bicycle.
5. When we met them last year, they (live) ________________ in Santiago.
6. The tourist lost his camera while he (walk) ________________ around the city.
7. The lorry (go) ________________ very fast when it hit our car.
8. While I (study) ________________ in my room, my roommates (have) ________________
a party in the other room.
9. Mary and I (dance) ________________ when the house when the telephone rang.
 10. We (sit) ________________ in the café when they saw us.

Exercise 3: Each sentence has a mistake, find and correct it.

1. was play football when she called me.

→ ____________________________
2. Was you study Math at 5 p.m. yesterday?
→ ____________________________
3. What was she do while her mother was making lunch?
→ ____________________________
4. Where did you went last Sunday?
→ ____________________________
5. They weren't sleep during the meeting last Monday.
→ ____________________________
6. He got up early and have breakfast with his family yesterday morning.
→ ____________________________
7. She didn't broke the flower vase. Tom did.
→ ____________________________
8. Last week my friend and I go to the beach on the bus.
→ ____________________________
9. While I am listening to music, I heard the doorbell.
→ ____________________________
10. Peter turn on the TV, but nothing happened.
→ ____________________________

Exercise 4: Complete the passage with the verbs in past simple or past continuous.

In my last holiday, I went to Hawaii. When I (go) 1 _______________ to the beach for the first time,
something wonderful happened. I (swim) 2 _______________ in the sea while my mother was
sleeping in the sun. My brother was building a castle and my father (drink) 3 _______________ some
water. Suddenly I (see) 4 _______________ a boy on the beach. His eyes were blue like the water in
the sea and his hair (be) 5 _______________ beautiful black. He was very tall and thin and his face
was brown. My heart (beat) 6 _______________ fast. I (ask) 7 _______________ him for his name
with a shy voice. He (tell) 8 _______________ me that his name was John. He (stay) 9
_______________ with me the whole afternoon. In the evening, we met again. We ate pizza in a
restaurant. The following days we (have) 10 _______________ a lot of fun together. At the end of
my holidays when I left Hawaii I said good-bye to John. We had tears in our eyes. He wrote to me a
letter very soon and I answered him.

Exercise 5: Fill in the blanks (past continuous).

1. I lost my keys when I __________________ (walk) home.
2. It was raining while we __________________ (have) dinner.
3. I saw the department stores when I __________________ (sit) on the bus.
4. Her phone rang while she __________________ (talk) to her new boss.
 5. My friends __________________ (drive) to work when they heard the news on the radio.
6. He __________________ (ride) his bicycle when the cat ran across the road.
7. We couldn’t go to the beach yesterday because it __________________ (rain).
8. It was a lovely day. The sun was shining and the birds __________________ (sing) in the
trees.
9. The tourist lost his camera while he __________________ (walk) around the city.
10. The lorry __________________ (go) very fast when it hit our car.
11. I __________________ (walk) down the street when it began to rain.
12. At this time last year, I __________________ (attend) an English course.
13. Jim __________________ (stand) under the tree when he heard an explosion.
14. While I __________________ (study) in my room, my roommates _______ (have) a party in
the other room.
15. Mary and I __________________ (dance) the house when the telephone rang.
Exercise 6: Circle the correct answer.
1. Alice saw / was seeing the accident when she was catching the bus.
2. What were you doing / did you do when I called?
3. I didn’t visit / weren’t visiting my friends last summer holiday.
4. It rained / was raining heavily last July.
5. While people were talking to each other, he read / was reading his book.
6. My sister was eating / ate hamburgers every weekend last month.
7. While we were running/ran in the park, Mary fell over.
8. Did you find/Were you finding your keys yesterday?
9. Who was she dancing/did she dance with at the party last night?
10. They were watching/watched football on TV at 7 p.m. yesterday.
Exercise 3: Fill in the blanks past simple or past continuous.
1. At this time last year, they (build) ____________________ this stadium.
2. I (drive) ____________________ my motorbike very fast when James called me.
3. I (chat) ____________________ with Hannah while Mr. Henry (teach)
____________________ the lesson yesterday.
4. My brother (watch) ____________________ TV when I got home.
5. At this time last night, I (prepare) ____________________ for my husband’s birthday party.
6. What you (do) ____________________ at 7 pm last Monday?
7. Where you (go) ____________________ when I saw you last weekend?
8. They (not go) ____________________ to church when I met them yesterday.
9. My mother (not do) ____________________ the housework when our grandparents came
home.
10. Ms. Stacey (read) ____________________ books while her children (play)
____________________ football yesterday afternoon.