Past Simple Tense Quiz & Flashcards for Mastery

Yesterday, I ______ my car

Last week, I ______ my friends

Last year, I ______ my arm

Ten years ago, I ______ Korean

We ______ tennis every day in August

The past simple tense is quite ______

We use the past simple to describe an action that started in the ______

The time expression appears either at the beginning or at the end of the sentence – never in the ______

The past simple is usually formed by adding ______, ed, or ied to the base form of the verb

In English there are many ______ verbs that take on a completely different form in the past tense

Past Simple

The past simple is the most common way of talking about past events or states that have finished.
It is often used with past time references (e.g. yesterday, two years ago).

Past Events or States

A past event could be one thing that happened in the past, or a repeated thing.
Examples of past events: I stopped at a zebra crossing, We carried on with the test, We played tennis every day in August.
A state is a situation without an action happening.
Examples of states: We stayed at my grandparents' house last summer.

Forming the Past Simple

The past simple is usually formed by adding d, ed, or ied to the base form of the verb.
There are many irregular verbs that take on a completely different form in the past tense.

Time Expressions

The most common time expressions used for the past simple are: yesterday, a week (month, year) ago, last (month, year, weekend, Monday) night, the day before yesterday, two days (months, years) ago.
The time expression appears either at the beginning or at the end of the sentence – never in the middle of the sentence.

Examples

Yesterday, I washed my car.
Last week, I visited my friends.
Last year, I broke my arm.
Ten years ago, I studied Korean.

Test your knowledge of regular verbs in the past simple tense with this quiz. Practice forming sentences and identifying past events or states using common time references. Perfect for A1-A2 level learners.