Past tense

Example: I / You / We / They / He / She / It (clean) cleaned on Monday.

1) I (clean) ________ my car on Monday
2) You (walk) ________ three miles on Tuesday.
3) We (cook) ________ lunch on Wednesday.
4) They (sew) ________ curtains on Thursday.
5) He (film) ________ the movie on Friday.
6) She (play) ________ chess on Saturday.
7) It (rest) ________ from its work on Sunday.

Note: When a regular verb ends in a consonant + “y”, the “y” is changed to “ied” to form the simple past tense.
Example: I / You / We / They / He / She / It (try) tried to buy tickets.
1) I (dry) ________ the dishes after dinner.
2) You (worry) ________ about the last test.
3) We (copy) ________ Sally’s notes from the lecture.
4) They (cry) ________ when their team lost.
5) He (discover) ________ a new star with his telescope Saturday.
6) She (fry) ________ all of her food until now.
7) It (bury) ________ the bone in the trash.

Example: I / You / We / They / He / She It (chop) chopped the wood.

1) I (trap) ________ the mouse on Monday
2) You (jog) ________ yesterday morning.
3) We (flip) ________ the pancakes at breakfast.
4) They (chop) ________ firewood last winter.
5) He (mix) ________ the chemicals together in the lab.
6) The nurse (help) ________ the patient to stand up.
7) It (tip) ________ the bucket over.

Note: Irregular verbs have unexpected spelling changes in various tenses, including the simple past tense.
Example: I / You / We / They / He / She It [bringed brought] a gift to the wedding Saturday.
1) I (be) [beed /was] busy painting last night.
2) You (make) [maked /made] a good cake for his birthday.
3) We (choose) [choosed /chose] to ride the train yesterday.
4) They (fall) [falled /fell] while skating together.
5) He (keep) [keeped /kept] the profits for himself.
6) She (meet) [meeted /met] her new coach on Monday.
7) It (ring) [ringed /rang] the bell on the birdhouse two times.
Note: Some irregular verbs do not change their spelling in the simple past tense.
Example: I / You / We / They / He / She/ It (bet) [betted bet] on the grey horse last time.
Example: I / You / We / They / He / She/ It (fit) [fitted fit] in his pocket before.
1) I (cut) [cutted /cut] the watermelon yesterday.
2) You (shut) [shutted /shut] the door before it rained.
3) We (quit) [quitted /quit] watching the movie last night. d
4) They (hurt) [hurted /hurt] their knees on the rocks.
5) He (put) [putted /put] the book back Wednesday.
6) She (hit) [hitted /hit] the target when she played darts.
7) It (cost) [costed /cost] five hundred dollars in 1980.
Note: Some irregular verbs do not change their spelling in the simple past tense.
Example: I (catch) caught some fish on Saturday.
Example: Anna (like) liked her biology class last semester.
1) I (buy) _______ a new car yesterday.
2) You (bend) _______ the branch you stepped on.
3) Carlos (paint) _______ twelve portraits last year.
4) They (know) _______each other years ago
5) Jake (teach) _______ the class last week.
6) Mariel (lend) _______ me her dress for the dance.
7) Suzanne and John (hope) _______ to move to Seattle last month.
8) Tyler (frame) _______ the picture; it looked beautiful.
9) We (exercise) _______ on the treadmill last night.
10) The box (stand) _______ in the same place for a month.
11) The waiter (break) _________ the glass at lunchtime.
12) The child (jump) ________ on the trampoline in gym class.
13) She (be) _______ my friend in second grade.
14) Mr. Thomas (mow) _______ the grass yesterday morning.
15) Vickie and I (hide) _______ the presents before the party.
16) The old cars (lead) _______ the parade last year.
17) Mr. Jones (lay) ______ the tile in our old house.
18) The student (finish) _______ his big project on time.
19) Gerald (call) _______ his mother last Sunday.
20) You (do) _______ the best job.
21) Amy (go) _______ home afterward.
22) The doctor (stitch) _______ his patient's wound quickly.
23) The Environmental Club members (pick) ________ up trash last Friday.
24) The fishing boat (sink) ________ in the storm.
25) We (spend) _______ a lot of money on vacation last summer.
26) I (attend) ________ high school in Florida many years ago.
27) Jennie (bring) _________ a delicious salad to the party.

Example: She (help) helped us clean up the mess. (regular / irregular)

Example: Jose (hit) hit the ball very hard yesterday. (regular / irregular)
1) I (build) _______ a bird house in September. (regular / irregular)
2) You (look) _______ for your keys for hours. (regular / irregular)
3) My friends and I (plant) _______ flowers on Saturday. (regular / irregular)
4) John and Sarah (choose) _______ a new home. (regular / irregular)
5) The boy (grow) _______ twelve inches last year. (regular / irregular)
6) Claire (walk) _______ ten miles last weekend. (regular / irregular)
7) The store (sell) _______ winter clothes until last month. (regular / irregular)
8) Joe (come) _______ to the meeting, but he was late. (regular / irregular)
9) You (pay) _______ the workers already. (regular / irregular)
10) The manager (open) _______ the store early this past Christmas. (regular /
irregular)
11) It was time for the race. The swimmers all (dive) _______ into the pool at once.
(regular / irregular)
12) The tire on Toni’s bike was flat, so she (change) ________ it. (regular / irregular)
13) A snake (bite) _______ the ranger’s hand when he reached into a pile of wood.
(regular / irregular)
14) I (think) _________ it would be easy to make pottery, but I discovered that it is not.
(regular / irregular)
15) The children (cheer) ________ when the ice cream truck arrived. (regular /
irregular)

Example: Mrs. Anderson (forget) forgot her husband's last birthday. (regular / irregular)
Example: We (hike) hiked to the top of the hill last fall. (regular / irregular)
1) I (begin) _______ the new project last week. (regular / irregular)
2) You (push) _______ the cart too hard and it crashed. (regular / irregular)
3) Jim and I (move) _______ the furniture in July, 2010. (regular / irregular)
4) The pelicans (find) _______ lots of fish to eat Thursday afternoon. (regular / irregular)
5) Our teacher (send) _______ the box to Oregon a week ago. (regular / irregular)
6) Jennifer (bake) _______ a lot of cookies for that party. (regular /irregular)
7) The lion (spend) _______ the night hunting. (regular / irregular)
8) The girl (stand) _______ in the rain for five minutes. (regular / irregular)
9) Callie (act) _______ in the play last fall. (regular / irregular)
10) Steven (give) _______ a donation five years ago. (regular / irregular)

Example: They (eat) ate vegetables for dinner. (regular / irregular)

Example: The hikers (fear) feared they were lost. (regular / irregular).
1) Aunt Nancy (join) _______ me for lunch last Wednesday. (regular / irregular)
2) My cousin and I (ride) ________ the train last week. (regular / irregular)
3) The guests (drink) ______ juice yesterday morning. (regular / irregular)
4) We (swim) _______ in the lake on Tuesday. (regular / irregular)
5) The lawyers (present) ________ their cases last Friday. (regular / irregular)
6) The bad weather (surprise) _______ us in July. (regular / irregular)
7) The brothers (scare) _______ the kittens away. (regular / irregular)
8) Christy (run) _______ two miles in the race. (regular / irregular)
9) Maggie (leave) _______ the party early. (regular / irregular)
10) Christopher and Wes (light) _______ the campfire. (regular / irregular)

Example: Mrs. Anderson (forget) forgot her husband's last birthday. (regular / irregular)
Example: We (hike) hiked to the top of the hill last fall. (regular / irregular)
1) I (begin) _______ the new project last week. (regular / irregular)
2) You (push) _______ the cart too hard and it crashed. (regular / irregular)
3) Jim and I (move) _______ the furniture in July, 2010. (regular / irregular)
4) The pelicans (find) _______ lots of fish to eat Thursday afternoon. (regular / irregular)
5) Our teacher (send) _______ the box to Oregon a week ago. (regular / irregular)
6) Jennifer (bake) _______ a lot of cookies for that party. (regular /irregular)
7) The lion (spend) _______ the night hunting. (regular / irregular)
8) The girl (stand) _______ in the rain for five minutes. (regular / irregular)
9) Callie (act) _______ in the play last fall. (regular / irregular)
10) Steven (give) _______ a donation five years ago. (regular / irregular)
Example: They (eat) ate vegetables for dinner. (regular / irregular)
Example: The hikers (fear) feared they were lost. (regular / irregular).
1) Aunt Nancy (join) _______ me for lunch last Wednesday. (regular / irregular)
2) My cousin and I (ride) ________ the train last week. (regular / irregular)
3) The guests (drink) ______ juice yesterday morning. (regular / irregular)
4) We (swim) _______ in the lake on Tuesday. (regular / irregular)
5) The lawyers (present) ________ their cases last Friday. (regular / irregular)
6) The bad weather (surprise) _______ us in July. (regular / irregular)
7) The brothers (scare) _______ the kittens away. (regular / irregular)
8) Christy (run) _______ two miles in the race. (regular / irregular)
9) Maggie (leave) _______ the party early. (regular / irregular)
10) Christopher and Wes (light) _______ the campfire. (regular / irregular)

Example: I (like) liked to ride our horse when I (be) was younger.
Example: We (go) went to New England in 2007. We (buy) bought maple syrup.
1) The professor (teach) _______ five classes Monday. He (be) _______ very tired
afterward.
2) You (feed) _______ the birds that we saw yesterday. Some of them (be) _______
cardinals.
3) Andy (go) _______ first on the trail Saturday, because he (know) _______ the way
better than we did.
4) The house (be) _______ dirty after they left. We (clean) _______ it yesterday.
5) The boys (put) _______ the motorcycles in the garage, then they (eat) _______
lunch.
6) My friends and I (find) _______ some gold in the river. Then we (look) _______ for
more.
7) I (like) _______ to write poetry when I (be) _______ eight years old.
8) Charlotte and I (see) ______ lightening in the sky Thursday night; the storm (come)
_______ fast.
9) The children (go) _______ to the park yesterday. They (stay) _______ for two hours.
10) We (play) _______ outside after it (snow) _______. Three inches of snow (fall)
_______ that day.

Note: Some irregular verbs do not change their spelling in the simple past tense.
Example: Chuck (send) sent the mail. He (do, not, remember) did not remember the letter.
Example: The driver (move) moved his truck; he (want) wanted to make room for the cars.
1) The dog (bite) _______the neighbor. The neighbor (call) _______ the
police.
2) My sister (hang) _______ the picture on Saturday. I (tell) _____ her that
I (do, not, like) _______ _______ _______ it.
3) Sam always (like) _______ to play soccer with his friends. Some of his
friends (be) _______ from Mexico. They (play) ________ very well.
4) The Johnson family (fly) _______ in a plane last week. They (go) _______ to
Denver to ski.
5) The cooler (hold)_______water for thirsty runners at the race. There (be, not)
_______ ______ enough for everyone.
6) I (do, not, think) _______ _______ _______that color was pretty. It (look) _______
mud to me, so I (pick) ________ a different color.
7) The children (dig) _______ a deep hole in the sand. The (play) _______ at the
beach all afternoon.
8) She (do, not, plant) _______ _______ _______ tomatoes this year. Her tomatoes
(die) _______ last year before they (grow) _______ very much.
9) The store (sell) _______ a lot of televisions in December. People (want) _______ to
give them as Christmas presents.
10) The prisoner (leave) _______ the jail early; he (do, not, serve) ______ _______
_______his full sentence.

Note: In this exercise, adverbs, like still, already, usually, frequently, slowly, quickly and
others—are used in simple past tense verbs. An adverb tells us something more
about the action of the verb. It is said to "modify" the verb.
Example: Savannah (quickly, swim) quickly swam the first two laps of the race.
1) Jared (frequently, drive) _______ _______ his father's truck to work last summer.
2) Mr. and Mrs. Porter (usually, stay) _______ _______ at Cape Hatteras for the
season.
3) Susan (already, play) _______ _______ the flute well before she began to play the
piccolo.
4) The sun (slowly, drop) _______ _______ below the horizon as we
watched.
5) The principal (kindly, speak) _______ _______ to the crying child.
6) The children (normally, wait)_______ _______ for the bus on the
corner of Walnut and Elm Streets.
7) The old house (still, look) _______ _______ just as it had when he last visited.
8) The artist (quickly, draw) _______ _______ a cartoon as the crowd watched.
9) Mrs. Campos (patiently, wait) _______ _______ for the nurse to call her into the
examining room.
10) The passengers (happily, cheer) _______ _______ as their hot air balloon lifted
from the ground.

When Abby (be) _______(1) seven years old, she (do, not, like) _______ _______
_______(2) piano lessons. She (do, not, like) _______ _______ ________(3) to practice,
and sometimes she even (cry) _______(4) when it (be) _______(5) time to
practice. Finally, she (stop) _______(6) taking lessons.
Some of Abby's friends (do, not, quit) _______ _______ _______(7)their
lessons. They (continue) _______(8) to play. After much practice, they
(learn) _______(9) to play very well.
About ten years (pass) _______(10) before Abby (become) _______(11) interested in
music or the piano again. After she (graduate) _______ (12) from high school, Abby
(decide) _______(13) that she (want) _______(14) to study music in college. She (call)
_______(15) the lady who (teach) _______(16)her when she (be) _______(17)a little girl.
The lady (say) _______(18)she would teach Abby again.
The lady (need) _______(19) someone to help her daughter with homework. Abby
(say) _______(20) she would help with homework in exchange for lessons. Because of
this, the piano lessons (cost) _______(21) her nothing!
She (work) _______(22)very hard to catch up. Now she is making good progress.
Soon she will go to college, majoring in music