Exercises A2 : practice The simple past tense in English

These exercises are designed to help you practise the simple past tense covered in the course. You will work with regular and irregular verbs to talk about finished actions in the past.

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Exercice 1 — Fill in the Blanks – Simple Past

Complete each sentence with the correct simple past form of the verb in brackets.

1. She ___ (visit) her grandmother last Sunday.
2. They ___ (go) to the cinema yesterday evening.
3. He ___ (not finish) his homework before dinner.
4. ___ (you / see) that film last week?

Correction

1. She visited her grandmother last Sunday.
2. They went to the cinema yesterday evening.
3. He did not finish his homework before dinner.
4. Did you see that film last week?

Exercice 2 — Sentence Transformation – Simple Past

Rewrite each sentence in the simple past tense. Keep the same meaning and change only what is necessary.

1. Every morning, I walk to school. → Last Monday, ___
2. She writes a letter to her friend. → Yesterday, ___
3. We do not watch television in the evening. → Last night, ___
4. Do they play football on Saturdays? → Last Saturday, ___

Correction

1. Last Monday, I walked to school.
2. Yesterday, she wrote a letter to her friend.
3. Last night, we did not watch television.
4. Did they play football last Saturday?

Exercice 3 — Error Correction – Simple Past

Each sentence contains one mistake related to the simple past tense. Find the error and rewrite the sentence correctly.

1. She didn't went to school yesterday because she was ill.
2. Did he finished his project on time last week?
3. They buyed a new car two months ago.
4. I not called you because I lost my phone.

Correction

1. She didn't go to school yesterday because she was ill.
2. Did he finish his project on time last week?
3. They bought a new car two months ago.
4. I did not call you because I lost my phone.