No matter how much you practice the simple past, at some point, you will want to test your knowledge with a simple past tense quiz. As you probably know, a thorough knowledge of the simple past tense is critical to good English skills. You can use this quiz to see if you have a good grasp of this verb tense. So, when you think you are ready, why not see how you do?
There are six parts to this test. They are primarily designed to test your knowledge of conjugation in the past tense and general sentence patterns. The last section is a listening test that you can use to test your listening skills.
If you would like to print off this test, you can download the Question PDF and the Answer PDF below. You will need to use the mp3 files found in Part 6 for those questions.
If you wish to review simple past tense grammar or simple past tense examples, feel free to do so before you begin the quiz.
If you have any questions, you can ask them by posting your question on this page or clicking the image below.
Simple Past Tense Quiz
Part 1 – Was Vs. Were
In this section, we will be asking you to simply fill in the blank with either was or were.
1. He _____ unhappy yesterday.
2. They ______ bored last semester.
3. I ____ at school during the announcement.
4. Tim and I _____ in the park yesterday.
5. You ____ her best friend last year.
Part 2 – Irregular Verb Conjugations
Similar to the last section, here we will be asking you to fill in the blank with the appropriate verb conjugation. We provide you with the correct verb (which is found in brackets like these). Your job will be to conjugate them properly.
1. I _____ (to run) in the race and came second yesterday.
2. They _____ (to go) to Athens last summer.
3. We _____ (to cut) the paper into two pieces before we folded it.
4. They wanted _____ (to have) a book in their bag.
5. She _____ (to write) a poem over vacation.
6. He ____ (to say) you should call him when you got home.
Part 3 – Answer the Question
In this section, we will give you a question. We want you to write an answer to that question. We have provided you with the “answer” we want you to use with the words in the brackets.
Example: What did you eat yesterday? (a sandwich)
Answer: I ate a sandwich yesterday.
1. What did you do yesterday? (go to the park)
2. Where did she learn French? (in France)
3. Did you visit your mom last weekend? (No)
4. Were you home this morning? (Yes)
5. When did they move to New York? (2005)
Part 4 – Correct the Sentence
For Part 4, we have written five sentences for you. We want you to correct the sentences. Not all of the sentences necessarily have mistakes, so be careful.
1. Where did you met her?
2. I weren’t happy to see him.
3. I did not in Florida goes to Disney.
4. Jim and Pam liked to eat candy when they were young.
5. She flyed to Jamaica last month.
Part 5 – Arrange the Sentence
These three sentences have been scrambled. You need to put them in their correct order.
Example: happy / She / was / yesterday
Answer: She was happy yesterday.
1. young / black / I / When / dog / had / was / I / a
2. you / them / yesterday / Were / with / ?
3. birthday / gift / She / not / a / for / did / his / buy / him
Part 6 – Listening Test
Listen to the audio clip and then answer the multiple-choice question. You can find the answers and transcriptions of the audio in the Answer PDF.
1. What did Joe do yesterday?
A. He went to the beach.
B. He ate some chips.
C. He finished his homework.
2. How was Sally yesterday?
A. She was great.
B. She was sad.
C. She was bored.
Learn Verbs with The Learner’s Nook
If you are interested in learning more about verbs in English, we have plenty of verb resources on our Verbs in English page.
