UNIT 11 Simple past Exercises

UNIT 11 Exercises

11.1  Read a sentence about the present and then write a sentence about the past.

Example: Carol usually gets up at 7:30. Yesterday she got up at 7:30.

1. Carol usually wakes up early. Yesterday morning___________________________________________

2. Carol usually walks to work. Yesterday______________________________________________

3. Carol is usually late for work. Yesterday______________________________________________

4. Carol usually has a sandwich for lunch. Yesterday___________________________________________

5. Carol usually goes out in the even. Yesterday evening____________________________________________

6. Carol usually sleeps very well. Last night______________________________________________

11.2  Put one of these verbs in each sentence:

hurt          teach           spend           sell           throw         fall          catch           buy          cost

Example: I was hungry, so I bought something to eat at the store.

1. Tom's father_____________ him how to drive when he was 17.

2. Daniel_________________down the stairs this morning and his leg.

3. We needed some money, so we_______________our car

4. Anne_______________a lot of money yesterday. She_____________a dress that $80.

5. Jim_____________the ball to Sue, who_____________it.



11.3   Write questions. A friend has just come back from vacation and you are asking about it.

Examples where/go?  Where did you go?
                  food/good? Was the food good?

1. how long /stay there?__________________________________________________

2. stay in a hotel?_________________________________________________

3. go alone?_______________________________________________

4. how/travel?__________________________________________________

5. the weather/nice?__________________________________________________

6. what/do in the evenings?__________________________________________________

7. meet any interesting people?____________________________________________________

11.4   Put the verb into the correct form. Use the simple past.

Example: I didn't go(not/go) to work yesterday because I wasn't (not/be) well.

1. Tom________________(not/shave) this morning because he_______________(not/have) time.

2. We_________________(not/eat) anything because we______________(not/be) hungry.

3.  I__________________(not rush) because I________________(not/be) in a hurry.

4. She________________(not/be) interested in the book because she_________________(not/understand) it.

Simple past ( I did )

UNIT 11 Simple past (I did)

Study this example:

Tom: Look! It's raining again.
Ann: Oh no, not again. It rained all day yesterday too.

Rained is the simple past tense. We use the simple past to talk about actions or situations in the past.

• I enjoyed the party very much.

• Mr. Brown died ten years ago.

• When I lived in Athens, I worked in a bank.

Very often the simple past ends in -ed:

• We invited them to our party, but they decided not to come.

• The police stopped me on my way home last night.

• She passed her exam because she studied very hard.

But many important verbs are irregular. This means that the simple past does not end in -ed:
 
leave---->left           We all left the party at 11:00.

go---->went              Last month I went to Rome to see a friend of mine.

cost---->cost            This house cost $75,000 in 1980.


The past of the verb be (am/is/are) is was/were:

  I/he/she/it was                               we/you/they were
I was angry because                      Tom and Ann were late.

In simple past questions and negatives we use did/didn't  + the base form (do/open, etc.)

it rained                    did it rain?                  it didn't rain

Ann: Did you go out last night, Tom?
Tom: Yes, I went to the movies. But I didn't enjoy it.

• When did Mrs. Johnson die 

• What did you do over the weekend?

• We didn't invite her to the party, so she didn't come.

• Why didn't you call me on Tuesday?

Note that we normally use did/didn't with have:

• Did you have time to write the letter?

• I didn't have enough money to buy anything to eat.

But we do not use did with the verb be (was/were)

• Why were you so angry?

• Was Mark at work yesterday?

• They weren't able to come because they were very busy.