Exercise 1. Using the Simple Past tense, fill in the blanks with the correct forms of the verb to be.

Example: I ______ calm. → I was calm.
You ______ right. → You were right.

1. He ______ happy.
2. We ______ students.
3. They ______ ambitious.
4. You ______ clever.
5. It ______ hot.
6. I ______ busy.
7. We ______ patient.
8. She ______ eleven years old.
9. They ______ intelligent.
10. He ______ in a hurry.

Exercise 2. Rewrite the following affirmative statements as questions, negative statements, negative questions without contractions, negative questions with contractions, and affirmative statements followed by negative tag questions.

Example: You were on time.
→ Were you on time?
→ You were not on time.
→ Were you not on time?
→ Weren't you on time?
→ You were on time, weren't you?

1. I was late.
2. They were in a hurry.
3. He was an artist.
4. We were right.
5. She was there.

Exercise 3. Paying attention to the correct spelling, fill in the blanks with the Simple Past of the regular verbs shown in brackets.

Example: It ______ raining. (to stop) → It stopped raining.
I ______ myself. (to disguise) → I disguised myself.

1. She ______ through the book. (to flip)
2. We ______ the traffic. (to watch)
3. You ______ the flowers carefully. (to arrange)
4. He ______ about his success. (to brag)
5. They ______ sightseeing. (to enjoy)
6. He ______ us with pencils. (to supply)
7. I ______ the child. (to reassure)
8. We ______ for them. (to wait)
9. They ______ the books overseas. (to ship)
10. She ______ too much. (to worry)

Exercise 4. Referring to the table of English irregular verbs if necessary, fill in the blanks with the Simple Past tense of the irregular verbs shown in brackets.

Example: They ______ a song. (to write) → They wrote a song.
We ______ the floor. (to sweep) → We swept the floor.

1. She ______ the dishes. (to do)
2. They ______ for a walk. (to go)
3. He ______ his time. (to take)
4. I ______ the beds. (to make)
5. They ______ to catch the bus. (to run)
6. She ______ up quickly. (to get)
7. You ______ the coffee. (to drink)
8. We ______ soundly. (to sleep)
9. He ______ his books. (to forget)
10. I ______ the house. (to leave)

Exercise 5. Paying attention to the correct forms of the bare infinitives, change the following affirmative statements into questions.

Example: He lifted the suitcase. → Did he lift the suitcase?
I paid the rent. → Did I pay the rent?

1. She hurried to school.
2. They carried the parcels.
3. You closed the door.
4. I plugged in the lamp.
5. They planned the party.
6. We taught the class.
7. She told a story.
8. They struck a bargain.
9. He met his friends.
10. I shook hands.

Exercise 6. Paying attention to the correct forms of the bare infinitives, change the following affirmative statements into negative statements.

Example: I scanned the newspaper. → I did not scan the newspaper.
They flew to Toronto. → They did not fly to Toronto.

1. We enjoyed ourselves.
2. She pinned on the brooch.
3. I fanned myself.
4. They emptied their pockets.
5. You replied at once.
6. He went to work.
7. We swam across the river.
8. They took the bus.
9. I shut the windows.
10. You ran fast.

Exercise 7. Paying attention to the correct forms of the bare infinitives, change the following affirmative statements into negative questions. Give both the forms without contractions and the forms with contractions.

Example: You walked quickly.
→ Did you not walk quickly?
→ Didn't you walk quickly?

1. You watched the game.
2. I climbed the ladder.
3. We pleased the visitors.
4. They canned the peaches.
5. He received the letter.
6. You saw the fireworks.
7. It cost five dollars.
8. She hit the ball.
9. He did his homework.
10. They cut the ribbon.

Exercise 8. Rewrite the following sentences, changing the underlined verbs from the Simple Past to the form with used followed by the infinitive.

Example: They took the bus. → They used to take the bus.
She traveled every year. → She used to travel every year.

1. It snowed heavily.
2. I came often.
3. We were neighbors.
4. He wrote many letters.
5. They walked to work.
6. He teased us.
7. She told us stories.
8. You rode a bicycle.