Past Simple Exercises

A. Put the verbs in brackets in the Past tense.

Last year my wife and I 1.(go) to a friend’s wedding in Italy. We 2.(drive) to Sorrento and
then, after the wedding, we 3.(do) some sightseeing and 4.(take) some photographs. It 5.
(be) quite hot and we 6.(decide) to go to a beach outside the city. We 7.(change) our
clothes and 8.(leave) them, together with our passports and cameras in the car. We 9.
(spend) the day on the beach. When we 10.(get) back to the car park at four o’clock, we
couldn’t find the car!

1. 3. 5. 7. 9.
2. 4. 6. 8. 10.

B. Complete the text with the correct past tense form of the verbs in brackets.

A TRUE STORY
It was Cathy’s fourteenth birthday. Her mother 1. (make) her a cake and 2. (put) a coin in
the cake for good luck. Cathy 3. (eat) the cake but never 4. (find) the coin. Her mother 5. (not
notice) ...
Soon Cathy 6. (become) sick. She couldn’t speak. She 7. (go) to hospital but the doctors
couldn’t find anything wrong with her. For twelve years, Cathy never 8. (speak) ...
Then one day when she was twenty-six, she 9. (catch) a bad cold and 10. (begin) to cough a
lot. Suddenly she 11. (cough) up something small and black - it was the coin! A few days later she
12. (be) able to speak again!

1. 4. 7. 10.
2. 5. 8. 11.
3. 6. 9. 12.

C. Put the verbs in brackets in the Past Tense.

Mrs Wilcox (1. have) a terrible day on Monday. You see, her entire life is in her
appointment book and she (2. lose) it.
She (3. go) to Chicago for a business meeting. At the meeting, she (4. look) in her briefcase
for her appointment book, but it (5. not be) there. She (6. think) maybe she (7. put) it in her
handbag, but (8. not be) there either.
After the meeting she (9. have) dinner and (10. see) a film. Then she (11. return) to the
hotel. At the hotel, she (12. get) a surprise. There (13. be) a message from the airline. They
(14. say) they found her appointment book. She (15. leave) it on the plane.

1 4. 7. 10. 13.
2. 5. 8. 11. 14.
3. 6. 9. 12. 15.
D. Put the verbs in brackets in the Past Tense.

Last Friday, the boys (1. go) camping. When they (2. arrive), they (3. put) up their tent in
the middle of the field. After that, they (4. eat) sandwiches and hot dogs. They (5. be) all
very hungry. After dinner they (5. tell) stories and (6. sing) songs by the camp fire. Two
hours later it (7. begin) to rain. The boys (8. feel) very tired, so they (9. get) into the tent
and in a few minutes they all (fall) asleep.

1. 4. 7.
2. 5. 8.
3. 6. 9.

E. Ask a friend questions about her last business trip. Then answer the questions.

1. how long / stay there?

F. Write the verbs in brackets in their Past Simple forms

ASPIRIN

It all began with a young chemist's quest to ease his father's pain
One hundred years ago this August, a young chemist working at Bayer in Germany 1. (make) a discovery which, yet
today, continues to ease our aches and pains, reduce our fevers, fight inflammation--and save lives.
On August 10, 1897, this Bayer chemist, Felix Hoffmann, 2. (discover) a stable form of acetylsalicylic acid, the active
ingredient in aspirin. Hoffmann had been seeking a pain-relieving medication for his father's rheumatism. The drug 3.
(help) his father's pain and inflammation, and when Bayer 4. (sell) as aspirin two years later, it quickly 5. (become) the
world's most popular pain reliever.
Bayer trademarked "Aspirin" in Germany on March 6, 1899. The name comes from "a" for "acetyl" and "spir" from
"spirea," a plant offering a natural source of salicin. The drug made its debut in 1899 as a powder and, by 1900, Bayer's
brand of aspirin became the first major drug to be marketed as a convenient tablet .

1. 3. 5.
2. 4.

What are the questions? (Past Simple)

1. Felix Hoffmann.
2. In Germany.
3. In 1897.
4. Aspirin
5. As a tablet.
.
G. Write the verbs in brackets in their Past Simple forms

The early years in the LEGO Group story

The LEGO story 1. (begin) in 1932 - in fact, even earlier, when Ole Kirk Christiansen, the LEGO Group's
founder, 2. (buy) Billund Maskinsnedkeri og Tømrerforretning (a carpentry and joinery business) in 1916. At
that time, Billund - located in the middle of southern Jutland's heathland - 3. (be) just a little village with a
handful of houses. Today the town has more than 8,000 inhabitants.
The depression in the 1930s, which 4. (start) with the Wall Street Crash in 1929, 5. (have) an impact on the
entire industrialised world. As a result, times were hard for Denmark's main activity at that time: agriculture.
Local farmers were Ole Kirk Christiansen's most important customers and the greatly reduced demand for his
services almost pushed him into bankruptcy.

1. 3. 5.
2. 4

What are the questions? (Past Simple)

1. In 1932.
2. A carpentry and joinery business.
3. In southern Jutland.
4. Agriculture.
5. Local farmers.