Exercise on Past Tense

Simple Past, Past Continuous, Past Perfect, Past Perfect Continuous Tense
Change the verb into one of the correct past tense form(Simple Past, Past Continuous, Past
Perfect, Past Perfect Continuous tense):
1. A plumber ____ to our house yesterday. (come)
2. He ____ to repair our washing machine that ____a few days before. (want, break)
3. Before he _____ at my door, he ______ for a parking space for about ten minutes. (ring,
look)
4. While the plumber _____ the washing machine, I _____ the news. (repair, watch)
5. We entered the house quietly because everyone_____. (sleep).
6. By the time we ____ to the cinema, the film had already started. (go)
7. The children ______in the garden while their parents were watching them. (play)
8. They ____many hours before we arrived. (leave)
9. They ____ to the airport as the plane was landing. (get)
10. Rani _____ very early today. (leave)
11. Sam and Sue _____ a new house last month. (buy)
12. I ______ Germany the previous week. (visit)
13. You _____ very well. (play)
14. They ______ this book on their trip to Italy. (find)
15. He noticed that Peter _____ the old chair. (not/to paint)
16. Before Leena laid the table, she _____ a talk with her mother. (to have)
17. She asked me if I _____ the new words. (to learn)
18. She always ____ (dance) in the summer
19. I heard a knock at the front door so I _____to answer it. (go)
20. At this time yesterday, I _____ an essay. (write)
21. The football season _____a month ago. (begin)
22. She ____from school in 2015. (graduate)
23. There were no sausages left when I came back. The dog _____ them. (eat)

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24. It _____ for three weeks, so the land was full of water. (rain)
25. I did not wait for my brother because I _____ his text message. (to read)
26. I _____ this cake by myself. (bake)
27. We ______ the store in 1995. (open)
28. The rain finally ______ ,and we ____ home. (stop, go)
29. She ____ to come, but she ____ some problems. (plan, have)
30. Kate ___ a big house, but she____ it. (have, sell)
31. Ram _____ his hamster before he left his house. (to feed)
32. Rose _____ very thin. (be)
33. You _____ at work yesterday morning. (be)
34. As it _____ out, it_____ our plumber’s car that _____ down the street. (turn, be, roll)
35. In his haste, the plumber _____ to put the handbrake on. (forget)
36. Raki___a cry for help while he ____in the sea.(hear, swim)
37. We ____ Paris was in England! (think)
38. They _____ this from their trip. (bring)
39. She wore the shoes she ____the previous day. (buy)
40. I fell as I ____ for the bus. (run)
41. Brinda _____ to a magic show before yesterday evening. (never to be)
42. She told me that Frank _____ his room. (not to tidy)
43. What ____ she ____ when he asked her to marry him?(do, say)
44. Suddenly, I _____ that they _____ our street on TV. (realize, show)
45. The reporter _____ that a car _____ into a stop sign just before reaching the crossroads.
(say, crash)
46. While I _____ carefully to what _____, someone _____at my door. (listen, happen,
knock)
47. When I was a student, I ____ much money. (not have)
48. Why ____ she still ____ at one o’clock in the morning? (is, work)
49. I _____ the door and _____ a police officer standing there. (open, see)

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50. He _____ for the plumber. (ask)
51. I was happy to see her, because we ____ each other for years. (not see)
52. By the time we got to the shop, a long queue ____ already ____ outside.(has, form)

Answers
1. came 27. opened
2. wanted 28. stopped , went
3. rang ,had been looking 29. had
4. was repairing 30. sold
5. was sleeping 31. had fed
6. got 32. was
7. were playing 33. were
8. had left 34. turned, had, rolled
9. got 35. had forgotten
10. left 36. had already ordered
11. bought 37. thought
12. visited 38. brought
13. played 39. had bought
14. found 40. was running
15. had not painted 41. had never been
16. had had 42. had not tidied
17. had learned 43. did, say
18. danced 44. realized, were showing
19. went 45. said, had crashed
20. was writing 46. was listening, had happened
21. began 47. didn’t have
22. graduated 48. was, working
23. had eaten 49. opened, saw
24. had rained 50. asked
25. had read 51. hadn’t seen
26. baked 52. had, formed

Click the following link to remember about Past Tense and its rules:
Simple Past: http://tnpscexams.guide/index.php/2017/07/22/tenses-part-5-simple-past-tense/
Past Continuous: http://tnpscexams.guide/index.php/2017/07/26/tenses-part-6-past-continuous-
tense/
Past Perfect: http://tnpscexams.guide/index.php/2017/07/29/tenses-part-7-past-perfect-tense/
Past Perfect Continuous: http://tnpscexams.guide/index.php/2017/08/01/past-perfect-continuous-
tense/