Oxford English Grammar Course Basic •

Level 1
TEST 4 • past tenses

Name 

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1 Simple past – regular verbs. Put in the simple past forms.
ask   asked  cry   enjoy   HAPpen   live   
▲

miss   plan   play   regRET   repeat   

reply   report   stop   turn   visit   

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2 Simple past – irregular verbs. Put in the simple past forms.
break   broke  come   feel   go   hold   
▲

keep   leave   make   put   shut   

sit   speak   stand   tell   think   
write   

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3 Simple past. Complete the sentences with the verbs from the box. Change the verb form if necessary.
ask believe clean find leave lose reply ✓ send speak ✓ tell understand write
 spoke to me I didn’t  reply
When she .
▲

1 She didn’t me when I her I was her friend.

2 They didn’t their maths homework so the teacher explained it.
3 I my keys yesterday but I them today.
4 Grandma me a present and I to thank her.
5 ‘What time did you the house this morning?’  ‘At 8 o’clock.’
6 Did you your bedroom when I you?

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4 Simple past. Circle  the correct forms.
Tony: Did you go / Went you / Did you went to school yesterday, Carla?
▲

Carla: Yes, of course.

Tony:  1
I didn’t arrive / I didn’t arrived / I’m not arrived at school on time yesterday because 2I missed / I mist the bus.
3
What the teacher said / What did the teacher say / What did say the teacher at the beginning of the lesson?
Carla: She 4remind / reminded us about the test next week. It’s on Wednesday.
Tony: I didn’t 5know / knew / known there was a test on Wednesday! 6Did you know / Did you knew / Knew you about it?
Carla: Yes. She 7telled / told us about it last week,
Tony: You’re right! I 8forgeted / forgetted / forgot. And did you 9hear / heared / heard what time the test starts?
Carla: No, she 10doesn’t say / didn’t say / didn’t said.

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5 Past progressive. Complete the sentences with past progressive verbs.
  Bob was cooking lunch.
When I arrived (Bob cook lunch +) 
▲ ▲ ▲

  wasn’t listening
She (listening –) to me so I stopped speaking. 
  Were they feeling tired
(they feel tired ?) when they got home? 
1 When I saw you (you wait +) for a bus. 
2 What (you eat ?) when you broke your tooth? 
3 When I saw them they looked very serious and they (smile –) at all. 
4 This morning at 10.30 I (shop +) in the town centre. 
5 (you work ?) when I phoned this morning? 
6 While the teacher was speaking I (listen –). 
7 Why (you cry ?) when I spoke to you this morning? 
8 When I (iron +) my shirt I realised that it was dirty. 
9 Why (you use ?) your old tennis racket? 
10 I (plan –) to use the car so Jenny used it.  ➔
Oxford English Grammar Course • Basic   TEST 4 • past tenses  © Michael Swan and Catherine Walter  PHOTOCOPIABLE
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6 Simple past and past progressive. Circle  the correct verb forms.

Level 1
I visited / was visiting my parents when you came / were coming to my house last week.
▲

1 ‘What did you do / were you doing when I saw you in town yesterday?’  ‘I looked for / was looking for a new pair of shoes.’
2 When you saw / were seeing the accident, did you tell / were you telling the police?
3 It didn’t rain / wasn’t raining so I left / was leaving my umbrella at home.
4 When I went / was going to see what the children did / were doing, they played / were playing computer games.
5 We got / were getting home from our holiday yesterday. This time last week we lay / were lying on the beach.
6 I opened / was opening the door of the swimming pool and looked / was looking inside. Two people swam / were swimming
but nobody used / was using the fast lane.

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7 Simple past and past progressive. Complete the sentences with simple past or past progressive forms.
 phoned me while I   was driving
He to work.  (phone; drive)
▲

1 While we breakfast someone the doorbell.  (have, ring)

2 When I the station it hard.  (leave; rain)
3 The train while I   to my friend. 
(arrive; talk)
4 I the address when my pencil .  (write; break)
5 I my husband when I in Africa.  (meet; work)
6 While I for the bus, I think she my wallet.  (wait; steal)
7 My friends about last night’s TV programme when I them
at the café.  (talk; join)
8 While we breakfast we a strange noise.  (have; hear)
9 When I Sue in the car park, she a lot of shopping.  (meet; carry)
10 When we last her she to the shops.  (see; walk)

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8 Simple past and past progressive. Correct (✓) or not (✗).
1 I paid for my sandwich and left the shop. 
2 I sat down, then I was ordering a coffee. 
3 Yesterday morning I was checking my emails before I left home. 
4 I didn’t leave the office at 5 because when I looked, everyone else still worked. 
5 When I arrived at the park, my brothers were playing football. 
6 I arrived at the park at 2 o’clock and stayed for two hours. 
7 My brothers still played football when I left the park. 
8 While I was running for a bus, I fell over in the street. 

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9 Mixed structures. Complete the text with the correct affirmative or negative past tense forms of the
words in the boxes. Where possible, use contracted forms (e.g. didn’t).

I first  learnt to speak Arabic while I was working in Dubai. I 1 there learn +   move +
▲

in 2005 and 2 for three years. stay +

I3 the language while I 4 as an engineer for an oil company: while become +   begin + 
I was speaking to people, I realised that often they 5 me. So I 6 speak –   study + 
taking lessons at a language school. At first I 7
Arabic well. But when I tried to understand –  work +
speak it, I saw that people were very happy and all my meetings 8 much easier.

When I came home, I 9 the language very much. But last week a man who know –  remember + 
10
any English 11 my company, so I spoke to him in Arabic. use –   visit +
While I was speaking to him, I 12 a lot of the language and I felt very happy!

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Oxford English Grammar Course • Basic   TEST 4 • past tenses  © Michael Swan and Catherine Walter  PHOTOCOPIABLE