Past Simple · Exercises
B1Intermediate practice
More irregulars, used to, wh- and subject questions.
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
- B1 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 B1
- 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?
- used to
- Who called you? / Who did you call?
- Past simple or present perfect?
- Passive: was built, weren’t invited, Were you told?
- 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.
Which timeline shows this sentence?
He played the guitar.
Show answer
He played the guitar.
“played” is the past simple (past form (did in questions and negatives)): finished at a time in the past.
Past simple or present perfect?
We _____ (try) skiing three times so far.
Show answer
We have tried skiing three times so far.
“three times so far” means up to now (the time isn’t finished), so use the present perfect.
Turn the past simple passive sentence into a question.
My bike was stolen last night.
Show answer
Was your bike stolen last night?
Passive negatives: wasn’t / weren’t + past participle. Questions: Was / Were + subject + past participle (no did).
Find the word that is wrong.
Was my dad hungry? No, he weren't.
Show answer
Was my dad hungry? No, he wasn't.
Answer was / were questions with was / were (not did): Yes, I was. / No, they weren’t.
Past simple or present perfect?
Mia and Ali _____ (climb) a volcano once so far this year.
Show answer
Mia and Ali have climbed a volcano once so far this year.
“once so far this year” means up to now (the time isn’t finished), so use the present perfect.
Past simple or present perfect?
He _____ (see) a shooting star last month.
Show answer
He saw a shooting star last month.
“last month” is a finished time, so use the past simple.