Past simple: regular and irregular verbs

Study the questions and tasks

Work through the material below, or start the interactive practice above to complete an attempt. Try the exercises before opening any answer or transcript sections, then use them to review your work.

Practice level

A1. Try this level if you can follow the instructions and understand most of the language; choose an earlier level if you need more support.

Question formats

Single choice

How to approach this practice

Read the complete sentence and notice the subject, verb form, time reference and word order before answering.

1. Question 1 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   Yesterday, I _____ to the park with my friend.

   1. go
   2. went
   3. goed
   4. going
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   went

   “Go” is an irregular verb. Its past simple form is “went.”

   Yesterday, I went to the park with my friend.

2. Question 2 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   Maria _____ her room last Saturday.

   1. clean
   2. cleans
   3. cleaned
   4. cleaning
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   cleaned

   “Clean” is a regular verb. For past simple, add -ed: “cleaned.”

   Maria cleaned her room last Saturday.

3. Question 3 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   We _____ dinner at 7 p.m. yesterday.

   1. eat
   2. eated
   3. ate
   4. eating
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   ate

   “Eat” is irregular. Its past simple form is “ate.”

   We ate dinner at 7 p.m. yesterday.

4. Question 4 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   Tom _____ his grandmother last weekend.

   1. visit
   2. visits
   3. visited
   4. visiting
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   visited

   “Visit” is a regular verb, so the past simple form is “visited.”

   Tom visited his grandmother last weekend.

5. Question 5 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   Sarah _____ a new book yesterday.

   1. buy
   2. buyed
   3. bought
   4. buys
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   bought

   “Buy” is irregular. Its past simple form is “bought.”

   Sarah bought a new book yesterday.

6. Question 6 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   The children _____ soccer after school yesterday.

   1. play
   2. played
   3. plaied
   4. plays
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   played

   “Play” is a regular verb. The past simple form is “played.”

   The children played soccer after school yesterday.

7. Question 7 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   I _____ my keys on the table this morning.

   1. put
   2. putted
   3. puts
   4. putting
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   put

   “Put” is an irregular verb that stays the same in the past simple: “put.”

   I put my keys on the table this morning.

8. Question 8 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   Jenny _____ her homework before dinner last night.

   1. finish
   2. finishes
   3. finished
   4. finishing
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   finished

   “Finish” is a regular verb. The past simple form is “finished.”

   Jenny finished her homework before dinner last night.

9. Question 9 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   We _____ a great movie last night.

   1. see
   2. saw
   3. seed
   4. sees
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   saw

   “See” is irregular. Its past simple form is “saw.”

   We saw a great movie last night.

10. Question 10 · Single choice

    Choose one answer.

    My brother _____ happy when he got the present.

    1. is
    2. are
    3. was
    4. were
    Check answers and explanations

    Answer

    was

    “Be” is irregular. With “he” in the past simple, use “was.”

    My brother was happy when he got the present.

What to review next

After checking an answer, explain the rule in your own words and write a new sentence using the same pattern. Revisit any rules you could not explain.

A focused practice result shows how you did on these tasks. Use several activities across skills to decide what to study next; one practice score does not certify an overall CEFR level.

Before you practise: a worked example

Describe a finished past event.

They visited the museum yesterday.

Visited is the past form of visit. Yesterday places the event in a finished past time.

This teaching example is separate from the scored questions. After your test, compare any mistakes with the explanation and revisit the topic before trying again.