Past Tense Worksheet: Practice Exercises with Answers

What is the Past Tense?

In English, the past tense is used to talk about actions, events, or conditions that happened or were true at some point in the past.  The past tense helps convey the timeline of events and is essential for storytelling, describing past experiences, or explaining past actions.

Types of Past Tense:

The past tense in English has four main types: Simple past, Past continuous, Past Perfect, and Past perfect continuous, each used to describe different aspects of past actions or events. Here are the four types of past tense:

1. Simple Past Tense: Used for actions that were completed in the past

Example: "I walked to the store yesterday."

2. Past Continuous Tense: Describes actions that were ongoing in the past

Example: "I was reading a book when you called."

3. Past Perfect Tense: Refers to an action that was completed before another action in the past.

Example: "I had finished my homework before I went to bed."

4. Past Perfect Continuous Tense: Describes actions that were ongoing and completed before another action in the past.

Example: "I had been studying for two hours when the phone rang."

Past Tense Exercises With Answers

To help you better grasp the concept of past tense, check out past tense worksheets provided below. These worksheets include a variety of exercises along with answer keys to help you learn from your mistakes and track your progress with ease.

Exercise 1 – Identify the Type of Past Tense

In this past tense exercise, you must identify whether the question is in simple past tense, past continuous tense, past perfect tense, or past perfect continuous tense and then write your answer.

1. By the time we got to the theatre, the movie had already started.

2. Emily visited her grandparents last weekend.

3. He had been reading a book when his phone rang.

4. I finished reading the book two days ago.

5. James was writing an email when his computer crashed.

6. Sarah had been practising piano every day before she performed on stage.

7. She had never seen snow before her trip to Canada.

8. The bus had just departed when we reached the stop.

9. They were watching TV when the power went out.

10. We went to the amusement park last summer.

Answers

1. Past Perfect Tense

2. Simple Past Tense

3. Past Perfect Continuous Tense

4. Simple Past Tense

5. Past Continuous Tense

6. Past Perfect Continuous Tense

7. Past Perfect Tense

8. Past Perfect Tense

9. Past Continuous Tense

10. Past Continuous Tense

Exercise 2 – Rewrite The Sentences into Different Forms of the Past Tense

The next exercise on our worksheet of past tense is to rewrite sentences in the different forms of past tense. This can help you describe and narrate events accurately.

1. She eats an apple.

2. The students study in the library.

3. He is watching a movie.

4. They travel to the mountains.

5. I bake cookies.

Answers

1. Simple Past: She ate an apple.

2. Past Continuous: The students were studying in the library.

3. Past Perfect Continuous: He had been watching a movie.

4. Past Perfect: They had traveled to the mountains.

5. Past Perfect Continuous: I had been baking cookies.

Exercise 3 – Fill in the Blanks with Past Tense

This past tense exercise will help you learn as well as practice the use of correct past tense forms of verbs. Additionally, it’ll help you understand the formation of past tense verbs, making you easily internalize the rules.

1. I ___________ (lose) my wallet on the bus.

2. Sarah ___________ (not forget) her keys at home.

3. He slipped on the ice and ___________ (hurt) his arm.

4. My brother ___________ (not spend) much money on his new phone.

5. We ___________ (buy) some groceries from the store.

6. The children ___________ (play) in the garden all afternoon.

7. Emma ___________ (cut) her finger while chopping vegetables.

8. The book ___________ (fall) off the shelf.

9. The vase ___________ (not break) when it hit the floor.

10. They ___________ (sell) their house last year.

Answers

1. I lost my wallet on the bus.

2. Sarah did not forget her keys at home.

3. He slipped on the ice and hurt his arm.

4. My brother did not spend much money on his new phone.

5. We bought some groceries from the store.

6. The children played in the garden all afternoon.

7. Emma cut her finger while chopping vegetables.

8. The book fell off the shelf.

9. The vase did not break when it hit the floor.

10. They sold their house last year.

Exercise 4 – Multiple-Choice Questions

The next past tense exercise in this worksheet of past tense is Multiple-Choice Questions. Pick the answer and check if it’s correct in the answer key below:

1. Which sentence is in the simple past tense?

a. She writes a letter.

b. She wrote a letter.

c. She is writing a letter.

d. She will write a letter.

2. Choose the correct past tense form of the verb in the sentence:

I _______ (see) a shooting star last night.

a. see

b. saw

c. seen

d. seeing

3. Which sentence is in the past continuous tense?

a. They were playing soccer in the park.

b. They play soccer in the park.

c. They will play soccer in the park.

d. They have played soccer in the park.

4. Choose the correct past perfect form of the verb in the sentence:

By the time we arrived, the train _______.

a. left

b. had left

c. was leaving

d. leaves

5. Which sentence is incorrect?

a. He ate lunch at 1 PM.

b. She was slept early last night.

c. They visited their grandparents last weekend.

d. We watched a movie yesterday.

6. Which verb is irregular in the past tense?

a. Walked

b. Played

c. Went

d. Laughed

Answers

1. b) She wrote a letter

2. b) Saw

3. a) They were playing soccer in the park.

4. b) Had left

5. b) She was slept early last night. (Correct form: "She slept early last night.")

6. c) Went

Exercise 5 – Error correction

The last segment of this past tense worksheet is error correction; make sure you answer each of them correctly below:

1. I goed to the market yesterday.

2. She was watch TV when I called her.

3. They was playing football in the park.

4. He drinked a cup of coffee in the morning.

5. I didn't went to the party last night.

6. We was studying for the exam all night.

7. She buyed a new phone last week.

8. The train leave the station before I arrived.

9. They didn't knew the answer to the question.

10. While he was drive, he saw an accident.

Answers

1. I went to the market yesterday.

2. She was watching TV when I called her.

3. They were playing football in the park.

4. He drank a cup of coffee in the morning.

5. I didn't go to the party last night.

6. We were studying for the exam all night.

7. She bought a new phone last week.

8. The train had left the station before I arrived.

9. They didn't know the answer to the question.

10. While he was driving, he saw an accident.

Conclusion

And there you have it: a past tense worksheet that can help you improve your understanding of tenses. Additionally, if you are struggling with understanding various tenses in English grammar, like future tense and present tense, then you can get help from Gradding. Our experts will be with you every step of the way and give you tailored assistance.

FAQs

1. Why Should I Use a Past Tense Worksheet?

A past tense worksheet can help you to practice and improve your understanding of past tense verbs. What’s even more amazing is that it helps you learn how to use verbs correctly in sentences and avoid common mistakes.

2. How do Fill-in-the-Blank Exercises Help?

The Fill-in-the-blank exercises can make you think about which right verb form to use. They even improve your memory as well as your understanding of past tense rules by encouraging you to apply them in real sentences.

3. What Kind of Questions are in Multiple-Choice Exercises?

Multiple-choice exercises test your knowledge by giving you options to choose from. You might need to pick the correct past tense verb, find errors in a sentence, or select the best answer based on context.

4. Can I Practice Irregular Verbs too?

Yes! Many worksheets focus on irregular verbs like go → went, eat → ate, break → broke. These verbs don’t follow regular rules, so extra practice helps a lot!