Past Simple Exercises
The past simple puts an action inside a finished period of time and leaves it there. It is the ordinary tense of anything that is over.
Quick reference
| Use | Structure | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Positive | subject + past form | She finished the report. |
| Negative | subject + did not + base form | She did not finish the report. |
| Question | did + subject + base form | Did she finish the report? |
| With to be | was / were, no did | He was late. They were not ready. |
Why the verb goes back to its base form
In a past simple question or negative, "did" carries the tense, so the main verb returns to its base form. One word marks the past, never two. "Did you go?" and "She did not go" are correct; "Did you went?" and "She did not went" mark it twice. The verb "to be" is the exception: it needs no "did" at all, and uses was and were directly.
The exercises
Every exercise is free, needs no account, and marks each gap separately with an explanation.
Regular and Irregular Verbs
Practise past simple verb forms with 20 free questions: regular -ed endings and the most common irregular verbs.
Questions and Negatives with Did
Practise past simple questions and negatives with did: why "Did you went" is wrong and how to use did not correctly.
Past Simple vs Past Continuous
Practise past simple vs past continuous with 20 free questions: interrupted actions, background description and while vs when.
Grammar is not the same as fluency
You can be right on paper and still hesitate when somebody asks you a question. These drills fix the rule; speaking out loud is what makes it automatic, and that is what the rest of this site is for.
Common questions
How do I form the past simple?
For regular verbs, add -ed: worked, played, finished. For irregular verbs you have to learn the form: go/went, take/took, buy/bought, see/saw. There is no rule for irregulars - they are a list, and the hundred most common ones cover almost everything you will say.
Why is "Did you went?" wrong?
Because the past is marked twice. In a question, "did" already carries the tense, so the main verb returns to its base form: "Did you go?" The same applies to negatives: "I did not go", never "I did not went". One word marks the past, and that word is "did".
When do I use did and when do I use was or were?
Use "did" with every verb except "to be". "Did you finish?", "Did she call?", "I did not know". The verb "to be" needs no auxiliary at all: "Were you late?", "She was not ready". Mixing them - "Did you were late?" - is always wrong.
What is the difference between past simple and past continuous?
The past simple is the completed action; the past continuous is the longer action it happened inside. "I was cooking when the phone rang" - the cooking was already in progress, the ring interrupted it. The short, finished event takes the past simple, and the background takes the past continuous.
How do I pronounce the -ed ending?
Three ways, and none of them is spelled differently. After a t or d sound, it is a full syllable: wanted, needed, decided. After a voiceless sound like p, k, s, f or ch, it sounds like t: worked, stopped, watched. After everything else it sounds like d: played, called, moved. "Worked" is one syllable, not two.
What time words go with the past simple?
Any closed period: yesterday, last night, last week, last year, in 2019, two days ago, this morning (if the morning is over), when I was a student, at six o’clock. If a sentence contains one of these, the past simple is the only possible tense.
Is the past simple the same as the present perfect?
No. The past simple names a finished time or has one in mind; the present perfect refuses to. "I visited Japan in 2019" is past simple because the year is stated. "I have visited Japan" is present perfect because the time is open. Adding a finished time to the present perfect - "I have visited Japan last year" - is always wrong.
What level is the past simple?
It is introduced at A1 with regular verbs and to be, extended at A2 with irregular verbs and question forms, and tested at B1 and B2 in contrast with the past continuous and the present perfect. It is the first tense most learners meet after the present, and the question form is where it keeps going wrong long after that.