Past Simple · Exercises
A2Elementary practice
Questions with did, short answers, spelling and ago / last.
Play
- Practice10 exercises at your own pace
- Time Attack60 seconds, as many as you can
- Survival3 lives, harder as you go
- Tense SortDrag sentences into their tense — 60 seconds
- Timelines10 sentences to match to their timelines
- A2 Boss12 hits before you lose 3 lives
- Irregular MatchPair verbs with their past forms — 60 seconds
Want to mix tenses, go endless or pick exercise types? Set up your own session.
What you’ll practise at A2
- was / were
- Regular verbs: -ed
- Irregular verbs (went, saw, bought…)
- Negatives: didn’t / wasn’t
- Questions: Did you…?
- Short answers: Yes, I did / No, it wasn’t
- -ed: spelling and sound (stopped, studied, wanted)
- Time words: ago, last, in, on
- Wh- questions: Where did you go?
- Who called you? / Who did you call?
- Timelines: what the tense means
Need a refresher? Learn the past simple: rules, tables and audio examples.
Sample exercises
A taste of what’s inside. In practice mode every exercise is freshly generated.
Is this sentence correct?
My parents planed the holiday three years ago.
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My parents planned the holiday three years ago.
“planed” should be “planned”. One vowel + one consonant at the end: double the consonant and add -ed: plan → planned.
Find the word that is wrong.
Did my older brother danced at the party an hour ago?
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Did my older brother dance at the party an hour ago?
Questions: Did + subject + base form. Did my older brother dance at the party an hour ago?
Choose the past simple.
Kofi _____ (visit) his cousins three years ago.
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Kofi visited his cousins three years ago.
Regular verbs add -ed: visit → visited.
Put the words in order to make a question.
concert / afternoon / they / the / yesterday / did / enjoy
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Did they enjoy the concert yesterday afternoon?
Questions: Did + subject + base form. Did they enjoy the concert yesterday afternoon?
Make the sentence negative.
We ate a big breakfast in 2019.
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We didn't eat a big breakfast in 2019.
Negatives: didn’t + base form (not the past form). We didn't eat a big breakfast in 2019.
Choose the past simple.
My grandparents _____ (listen) to the radio at the weekend.
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My grandparents listened to the radio at the weekend.
Regular verbs add -ed: listen → listened.