To Be - Past Tense

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A) Fill in the gap with the correct form of To Be

1. Why __________ you so ill yesterday?

2. __________ Steve at the library last Friday?
3. We __________ n’t in Spain last year, we were in France.
4. Unfortunately she __________ n’t offered the job.
5. I __________ a good worker but he fired me anyway.
6. They __________ busy all day.
7. It __________ a very difficult situation.
8. Yesterday it __________ very cold. I hope it will be warmer today.
9. My brother __________ a teacher for 20 years.
10. They __________ really unkind to me, but I __________ n’t any better back.

B) Create a sentence using the words below using the correct form of To Be.
Sometimes the verb needs to appear twice and in different tenses.
1. he / fat / but / year / thin / now / last
_________________________________________________________________________________________
2. meeting / I / to / the / late
_________________________________________________________________________________________
3. lucky / friend / very / my
_________________________________________________________________________________________
4. 21st / the / yesterday / the / today / 22nd
_________________________________________________________________________________________
5. cold / rainy / sunny / hot / It / It / and / and / not
_________________________________________________________________________________________
6. policeman / firefighter / Bert / not / a / a
_________________________________________________________________________________________

C) Answer the following questions using the past form of To Be

1. Where were you last weekend? __________________________________________

2. Who were you with last weekend? __________________________________________
3. Where was your mother yesterday? __________________________________________
4. Were you a good student at school? __________________________________________
5. How did Mike feel when he got the test results? __________________________________________
6. Why was the teacher angry? __________________________________________

Photocopiable © 2011 Rob Woodward – www.grammar.cl - Classroom and Personal Use Permitted
Was Were
Name:
Test: 10 Result: __/20 Date: __/__/20__

1. They _______ always so glad to see her.

2. In a moment we _______ all on our feet.

3. I _______ at his home the other night.

4. They _______ always here for the summer work.

5. She knew where she _______ with him.

6. What it _______ we do not know.

7. They _______ to leave on the evening of the next day.

8. He didn't even ask who they _______.

9. Its rooms _______ low and rather dark.

10. It _______ good of her to come here.

11. It _______ his heart, they say.

12. They _______ round at the front again.

13. The dark eyes _______ full of pain.

14. She asked a woman who they _______.

15. These letters _______ always shown to me.

16. His small eyes _______ fixed upon the water.

17. For some time we _______ on terms.

18. It _______ to him that she went now.

19. And what _______ he to do now?

20. It _______ but the work of a moment.

© Grammarism
Was Were Negative Form
Name:
Test: 1 Result: __/17 Date: __/__/20__

was not so to be.

1. But it __________

wasn't
2. He __________ much to look at.

were not said without a certain difficulty.

3. These words __________

4. But she knew she __________.

5. They __________ in time, however.

6. They __________ going to do anything.

7. I __________ thinking about that.

8. She felt that she __________ alone.

9. The others __________ to be seen.

10. They __________ like the boys of his time.

11. But he __________ looking at her.

12. But his heart __________ in his work.

13. We __________ the only ones there.

14. We __________ meant for each other.

15. It __________ some other matter, however.

16. It __________ true that I found them.

17. But this thing __________ to be.

18. But the others __________ with him.

19. The men __________ even in line.

20. The white boys __________ with him.

© Grammarism
 Past Simple Tense Exercises

1) Complete the sentences with the SIMPLE PAST of the verbs in parentheses:

a) They ____________________ (watch) TV last night.

b) Priscila ____________________ (talk) to her friends all day.
c) I ___________________ (have) a terrible headache yesterday.
d) Bob _____________________ (come) home from school late.
e) They ____________________ (arrive) late and ___________________ (miss) the bus.
f) She ____________________ (study) hard and ___________________(pass) the exam.
g) He ____________________ (call) the office to tell them he was sick.
h) I ___________________ (speak) to the director as he was leaving the room.
i) Dr. Johnson ______________________ (get up) early this morning.
j) Mary _____________________ (do) her homework and ________________ (go) to
school.
k) Chris ____________________ (find) a ten-dollar bill.
l) The dog ______________________ (follow) us down the road.
m) Those students _____________________ (work) hard last semester.
n) Lúcio ___________________ (stop) at the corner and __________________ (call) us.
o) I ___________________ (try) to talk to Helen last night.
p) I ___________________ (pay) the phone bill yesterday.
q) My dad ____________________ (catch) a cold when he ________________ (be) in
Canada.
r) She _____________________ (leave) home early yesterday.
s) They ____________________ (know) each other very well when they
________________ (be) kids.
t) The teacher _____________________ (bring) the exams corrected.
u) She was cleaning the vase when she ____________________ (drop) it.
v) We ___________________ (jog) in the park yesterday.
w) The fire ____________________ (occur) while we ___________________ (be) out.
x) I __________________ (meet) some nice people at the party last weekend.
y) Carol _____________________ (sleep) until late on the weekend. Then, she
_______________ (go) out to lunch.
z) We ______________________ (fly) to the USA on a great airplane.

2) Write questions or negatives sentences:

a) She visited her parents last weekend.

 Question: __________________________________________________________?

b) He cleaned his room before school.

Question: ___________________________________________________________?

c) The teacher found the missing exams.

Negative: ____________________________________________________________?

d) Tom wanted to go to the movies alone.

Question: ___________________________________________________________?

e) Helena offered Henrique a piece of cake.

Negative: ___________________________________________________________?

f) I knew what to do.

Negative: ____________________________________________________________?

g) Alexandre helped Anita with her homework.

Question: ___________________________________________________________?

h) You ate cookies after dinner.

Negative: ____________________________________________________________?

i) You talked to her earlier.

Question: ___________________________________________________________?

j) We turned off the TV after the news.

Negative: ____________________________________________________________?

k) He drank only a coke at the party.

Question: ___________________________________________________________?

l) Mom made breakfast early.

Negative: __________________________________________________________?
 Grammar Practice Worksheets ✎
Simple Past

Verb “To Be” Past Tense – Affirmative and Negative

A. Put the correct form of the verb “to be” (was/were) in the past tense in the following sentences.

1. Judy __________________ sick yesterday.

2. We __________________ in the same class last year.
3. I __________________ tired after a long day at work.
4. The weather __________________ beautiful yesterday.
5. Last semester my teachers __________________ very good.
6. The children __________________ hungry after so much exercise.
7. The wind __________________ very strong last night.
8. She __________________ very happy last week.
9. They __________________ nervous on the first day of school.
10. Luckily, the windows __________________ closed during the rain storm.
11. We __________________ very happy to get your letter last week.
12. The boys __________________ tired after the ball game.

B. Put the correct negative form of the verb “to be” (wasn’t/ weren’t) in the following sentences.

1. They __________________ at school yesterday because it was Saturday.

2. He __________________ hungry at supper time because he ate a big lunch.
3. Carol __________________ happy to see her boyfriend with another girl.
4. Bonnie __________________ at home last night when I called her.
5. The teacher __________________ satisfied with the student’s work.

C. Complete the following sentences with wasn’t or weren’t.

Ex. I am at work today, but I wasn’t here yesterday.

1. It is cold outside today, but _______________________________________________________.

2. She is sick today, but _______________________________________________________.
3. They are at school today, but _______________________________________________________.
4. The TV show is good today, but _______________________________________________________.
5. The apples are sweet today, but _______________________________________________________.
6. The class is interesting today, but _______________________________________________________.
7. The boss is angry today, but _______________________________________________________.
8. The door is locked today, but _______________________________________________________.
9. The exercises are easy today, but _______________________________________________________.

1
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 Grammar Practice Worksheets ✎
Simple Past

Past Tense of the Verb “To Be” – Yes/No Questions

Practice making questions and giving short answers with the verb “to be” in the past tense.

Ex. Were you tired last night?

Yes, I was. (I was tired last night.)

1. _________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________ (It wasn’t cold outside yesterday.)

2. _________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________ (They weren’t sick last week.)

3. _________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________ (Don was at the office last Saturday.)

4. _________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________ (The car was expensive.)

5. _________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________ (The children weren’t excited.)

6. _________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________ (The store wasn’t open.)

7. _________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________ (The movie was interesting.)

8. _________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________ (The food wasn’t good.)

2
Copyright 2008. This eBook is produced and distributed by Red River Press Inc. All rights reserved. The contents within this e-book/document may only be
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Test 1 Name ………………………..

Vocabulary Grammar
1 Podpisz obrazki nazwami z ramki. 3 Ułóż zdania. Użyj czasownika be w formie czasu
past simple.
cable car hovercraft hot-air balloon 1 you / be / late / for school / this morning?
motorbike helicopter underground Were you late for school this morning?_______
2 it / not be / cold / last Saturday
______________________________________
1 2 3 Gina and Ella / not be / at home / yesterday
______________________________________
4 this kite / be / my favourite toy
______________________________________
5 when / be / the first flight?
3 ______________________________________
6 how many people / be / at the park / today?
______________________________________
5

4 Uzupełnij zdania podanymi czasownikami

w formie czasu past simple.
4 5
1 We __arrived__ at the station at two o’clock.
(arrive)
2 We __________ to York by train. (go)
3 She __________ a return ticket. (buy)
4 The bus __________ at the traffic lights. (stop)
6
5 We __________ the living room. (tidy)
6 The plane __________ over our house. (fly)
5

5 Uzupełnij tekst czasownikami z ramki w formie

1 _hot-air balloon_ _ 4 _______________ czasu past simple.
2 _______________ 5 _______________
3 _______________ 6 _______________ be read arrive buy be wait
5

2 Uzupełnij wyrazy związane z transportem. The train 1___was___ late because of the snow.
We 2__________ our tickets, and I 3__________ a
1 taxi 4 m__e_ magazine. We 4__________ for the train for nearly
2 f___y 5 l_r__ two hours!
3 t_a_ 6 b_a_ When it 5__________ at 7 o’clock, we weren’t very
happy because we 6__________ hungry and cold.
5
5

PHOTOCOPIABLE © Oxford University Press Editable Steps Plus 6 Unit 1 Test A 1

Test 1 Name ………………………..

Speaking
6 Ponumeruj kwestie dialogu we właściwej
kolejności. Total 35
Tom I’d like a ticket to Manchester, please. 1
Tom Here you are. Which platform is it? __
Tom Single, please. __
Clerk Thank you. It’s number 5! __
Clerk Single or return? __
Clerk That’s £17.50, please. __
5

Reading
7 Przeczytaj tekst. Oznacz zdania jako prawdziwe
( ) lub fałszywe ( ).

In May 2010, 16-year-old Jessica Watson from

Australia became the youngest person to sail
alone around the world. She travelled for seven
months on her boat, The Pink Lady. A lot of
people said that Jessica was very young for the
long journey, because the sea was very
dangerous, and no one was with her. It’s true
that the weather was often terrible: it was cold,
windy, foggy and stormy. The waves were
sometimes 12-metres high, and Jessica fell into
the sea many times. But she didn’t stop
because she really loves sailing. At the end of
her journey, Jessica was very pleased to see
her family and her dog again, and to
eat some fresh fruit.

1 Jessica travelled with her father.

2 Jessica was on The Pink Lady for seven
months. __
3 She didn’t have any problems during
the journey. __
4 It was hot all the time. __
5 The waves were very big. __
6 There wasn’t much fresh fruit on her boat. __
5

PHOTOCOPIABLE © Oxford University Press Editable Steps Plus 6 Unit 1 Test A 2