Past Simple — Exercises

When to use Past Simple

Choose the sentence that correctly uses Past Simple — or identify why it's used.

📋 Slide 3

Past Simple describes completed facts or events in the past that are not connected to the present. Use it when the action is fully over and, often, when a specific past time is implied or stated.
Examples: Neil Armstrong walked on the Moon in 1969. · She called you 5 minutes ago.

Multiple choice — pick the best explanation

1 "Scientists discovered gravitational waves in 2015." — Why is Past Simple used here?

The action is still happening right now.

It was a completed event at a specific point in the past (2015).

The result matters more than when it happened.

2 Which sentence uses Past Simple correctly?

Elon Musk has launched his first rocket in 2006.

The rover is landing on Mars last February.

SpaceX launched Falcon 9 for the first time in 2010.

3 "The team worked on the AI model for three years and finished it last month." — What does Past Simple tell us?

The work is completely over — both actions are in the past.

The work is still ongoing.

The result of the work is important now.

Affirmative form — Regular verbs (+ed)

Write the correct Past Simple form of the verb in brackets. Use basic +ed rules.

📋 Slide 4

Formula: Subject + V2 (no auxiliary!)
Regular verbs: add -ed to the base form. · work → worked · launch → launched · call → called

Fill in the blanks

Spelling rules for –ed

Three rules: verbs ending in -e, verbs ending in -y, and consonant doubling. Choose the correctly spelled form.

📋 Slides 5 – 6

–e ending: add -d only · code → coded · agree → agreed
Vowel + y: add -ed · play → played
Consonant + y: change to -ied · study → studied
CVC (short stressed syllable): double consonant + -ed · stop → stopped
Multi-syllable, stress on last: double + -ed · transfer → transferred

Choose the correct Past Simple form

Pronunciation of –ed: /t/, /ɪd/, or /d/

Drag each verb into the correct pronunciation column — or tap a verb, then tap a column.

📋 Slide 7

/t/ — after voiceless consonants /k f θ s ʃ tʃ p/ · worked /wɜːkt/
/ɪd/ — after /d/ or /t/ · needed /ˈniːdɪd/
/d/ — all other cases (voiced + vowels) · called /kɔːld/

Drag & drop (or tap a verb, then tap a column)

/t/

voiceless consonants

/ɪd/

ends in /d/ or /t/

/d/

voiced / vowels

Irregular verbs — V2 form

Write the correct Past Simple form of the irregular verb in brackets.

📋 Slide 8

Irregular verbs have a unique V2 form — no -ed rule. You must memorise them.
go → went · see → saw · buy → bought · think → thought · make → made · write → wrote · take → took

Fill in the blanks with the correct V2 form

Negation: didn't + V1

Rewrite each sentence as a negative. Use the short form didn't.

📋 Slide 9

Formula: Subject + didn't + V1 (base form — no -ed!)
❗ The main verb goes back to V1: She worked. → She didn't work.

Make these sentences negative

Questions: Did + Subject + V1?

Build questions and short answers from the prompts.

📋 Slide 10

Formula: Did + Subject + V1 + …?
Short answers: Yes, he did. / No, she didn't.
❗ Main verb is always V1 — never add -ed in questions.

Part A — Arrange the words into a correct question

Part B — Error correction: find & fix the mistake

Mixed practice — Transformation

Transform each sentence according to the instruction in brackets: (+), (–), or (?). All topics: space, AI, engineering, sport.

📋 Slides 3 – 10 · Mixed

Write the transformed sentence in the box

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Exercises complete!

Here's how you did, Alexander:

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out of — points