Past Tense Practice Test (A1-B2) — Grammar Exercises with Answers

⏱ Time: 10:00 📝 Questions: 20 📊 Level: A1, A2, B1, B2 📚 Type: Grammar ⭐ XP: up to +22 (on pass)
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Practise Past Tense with 20 exercises at Level A1-B2. Each question comes with a detailed explanation to reinforce what you know and fill in any gaps. Add this to your daily study routine — just 10 minutes to stay sharp.

⏱ You have 10:00 to answer 20 questions. The timer only starts when you click Begin.

Q1  20
Q1 20

Question 1: She ___ to school yesterday.

Question 1 options
'Went' is correct because 'go' is an irregular verb and its past simple form is 'went.' 'Goed' is a common learner error applying regular -ed rules to an irregular verb. 'Goes' is present tense. 'Going' is a participle, not past simple.
Q2 20

Question 2: I ___ a cat last year.

Question 2 options
'Had' is correct because 'have' is an irregular verb whose past simple form is 'had.' 'Haved' incorrectly applies the regular -ed ending. 'Has' is present tense for third person. 'Have' is present tense.
Q3 20

Question 3: He ___ his homework last night.

Question 3 options
'Did' is the past simple form of the irregular verb 'do.' The time marker 'last night' signals that the past simple tense is required.
Q4 20

Question 4: They ___ football on Sunday.

Question 4 options
'Played' is correct because 'play' is a regular verb and forms its past tense by adding -ed. 'Plaied' is a misspelling. 'Plays' is present tense. 'Playing' is a participle form, not past simple.
Q5 20

Question 5: We ___ not see the movie last Friday.

Question 5 options
'Did' is correct because in past simple negative sentences, we use 'did not' (or 'didn't') + base verb. 'Do' is present tense. 'Does' is present tense third person. 'Were' cannot be followed by 'not see' in standard English.
Q6 20

Question 6: "Did she ___ the bus this morning?"

Question 6 options
'Catch' is correct because after the auxiliary 'did,' we always use the base form (infinitive) of the verb, not the past form. 'Caught' is the past form, which would create a double past. 'Catches' is present tense. 'Catching' is a participle.
Q7 20

Question 7: In past simple negative sentences, the main verb stays in its base form (e.g., 'She did not go' rather than 'She did not went').

Question 7 options
True because when 'did' is used as an auxiliary in negatives and questions, it carries the past tense, so the main verb remains in the base (infinitive) form.
Q8 20

Question 8: I ___ television when the phone rang.

Question 8 options
'Was watching' is correct because when a longer background action is interrupted by a shorter past action ('the phone rang'), we use the past continuous for the background action. 'Watched' would imply a completed action, not one in progress. 'Had watched' implies the action was completed before the phone rang. 'Am watching' is present continuous.
Q9 20

Question 9: She ___ in London for five years before she moved to Paris.

Question 9 options
'Had lived' is correct because the past perfect is used for an action that was completed before another past action. She lived in London first, then moved to Paris. 'Lived' doesn't clearly show which action came first. 'Was living' emphasizes an ongoing state but doesn't mark the sequence as clearly. 'Has lived' is present perfect, inappropriate for a completed past narrative.
Q10 20

Question 10: The children ___ playing in the garden when it started to rain.

Question 10 options
'Were' is correct because the past continuous for plural subjects (the children) uses 'were' + present participle. This describes an action in progress that was interrupted by another past event.
Q11 20

Question 11: Which sentence correctly uses the past simple tense?

Question 11 options
'He bought a new car last month' is correct because 'bought' is the correct irregular past form of 'buy' and the time marker 'last month' confirms past simple. 'He buyed a new car' incorrectly adds -ed to an irregular verb. 'He has bought a new car last month' mixes present perfect with 'last month,' which requires past simple. 'He was buying a new car last month' uses past continuous, which doesn't fit the completed single action with 'last month.'
Q12 20

Question 12: When I arrived at the party, everyone ___.

Question 12 options
'Had already left' is correct because the past perfect indicates that the leaving happened before the arriving. Both events are in the past, but one was completed first. 'Already left' lacks the auxiliary needed to clearly show the sequence. 'Has already left' is present perfect, which doesn't fit a past narrative. 'Were already leaving' implies they were in the process, not that they had finished leaving.
Q13 20

Question 13: Match each sentence to the correct past tense type.

Question 13 options
I ate lunch at noon.
I was eating lunch at noon.
I had eaten lunch before he called.
I had been eating for an hour when he arrived.
Past perfect
Past perfect continuous
Past simple
Past continuous

Select an item on the left, then tap its match on the right.

'I ate lunch at noon' is a completed action (past simple). 'I was eating lunch at noon' is an action in progress at a past time (past continuous). 'I had eaten lunch before he called' shows one action completed before another past action (past perfect). 'I had been eating for an hour when he arrived' shows duration of an activity before another past event (past perfect continuous).
Q14 20

Question 14: "I wish I ___ more time to finish the exam yesterday."

Question 14 options
'Had had' is correct because after 'wish' referring to an unreal past situation, we use the past perfect to express regret about something that didn't happen. 'Had' alone would express a present wish. 'Have' is present tense. 'Would have' is used in conditional results, not directly after 'wish' for past regret.
Q15 20

Question 15: The verb 'stop' becomes ___ in the past simple.

Question 15 options
'Stopped' is correct because when a one-syllable verb ends in consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC), we double the final consonant before adding -ed. 'Stoped' has only one 'p,' which is incorrect. 'Stoped' and 'stopied' are both misspellings. 'Stoppied' incorrectly changes the ending.
Q16 20

Question 16: The past simple form of 'read' is spelled the same as the present form but pronounced differently (/rɛd/ instead of /riːd/).

Question 16 options
True because 'read' is an irregular verb whose past simple form keeps the same spelling but changes pronunciation from /riːd/ (present) to /rɛd/ (past).
Q17 20

Question 17: By the time we got to the station, the train ___.

Question 17 options
'Had already departed' is correct because the past perfect is needed to show that the train's departure was completed before our arrival at the station. 'Already departed' lacks the past perfect auxiliary. 'Has already departed' is present perfect and doesn't fit a past narrative. 'Was already departing' implies the train was still in the process of leaving, which contradicts the implication that we missed it.
Q18 20

Question 18: Put these words in the correct order to form a past simple question:

Question 18 options
  • yesterday?
  • Where
  • go
  • did you

Drag items or use arrows to arrange them in the correct order.

The correct order is 'Where did you go yesterday?' In past simple questions, we use: question word + did + subject + base verb + time expression.
Q19 20

Question 19: She ___ to the gym three times a week when she lived in that neighbourhood.

Question 19 options
'Used to go' is correct because 'used to' describes a past habit that is no longer true. 'Use to go' is incorrect in affirmative sentences (it only appears after 'did' in questions/negatives). 'Was used to go' confuses 'used to' (past habit) with 'was used to' (was accustomed to), which requires a gerund. 'Would to go' is grammatically incorrect; 'would' for past habits doesn't take 'to.'
Q20 20

Question 20: "If I ___ about the traffic, I would have left earlier."

Question 20 options
'Had known' is correct because the third conditional (past unreal condition) requires 'if + past perfect' in the condition clause, paired with 'would have + past participle' in the result clause. 'Knew' is past simple, used in the second conditional for present/future unreal situations. 'Would know' cannot be used in the if-clause. 'Have known' is present perfect, which doesn't fit the past unreal conditional structure.