Past simple worksheets
107 worksheets, 5 lessons and 6 shadowing scripts · Tenses
Start here — 24 free samples
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Past simple worksheets
107 printable worksheets with answer keys; the 24 most used, easiest level first.
Past simple lessons
5 ready lessons for the four skills: teach on the board, set online or print.
Past simple shadowing
Listen, repeat, record and compare: short scripts for pronunciation and fluency.
About Past simple
The past simple describes finished actions and states at a specific time in the past: We visited Paris last summer. She didn't come to the party. Regular verbs add -ed, irregular verbs have their own forms (go – went, see – saw), and questions and negatives use did with the base verb: Did you watch the match?
It is introduced at A1 and with young learners, expanded at A2 with more irregular verbs, and contrasted with the past continuous and present perfect at B1. Common difficulties are *Did you went?, learning irregular forms, and pronouncing -ed as /t/, /d/ or /ɪd/ (walked, played, wanted).
Here you'll find printable past simple worksheets with answer keys – print them as PDFs or share a class link so students solve them online.
Teaching tips: Past simple
- Sort regular verbs into three pronunciation columns: /t/ (watched), /d/ (cleaned) and /ɪd/, which only follows t or d (started, needed).
- Teach irregular verbs in small sound families (sing – sang, drink – drank; buy – bought, bring – brought) rather than one long list.
- Use 'What did you do on the weekend?' as a regular warmer so the tense is used in genuine conversation.
- Watch for double past marking (*Did she went? *He didn't saw it): did already carries the past, so the main verb returns to its base form.
- Have learners retell a picture story with sequencers (first, then, after that, finally) to practice narration.
Questions teachers ask
What's the difference between past simple and present perfect?
The past simple is for finished time that is stated or understood (I saw him yesterday). The present perfect links the past to now without saying when: I've seen that movie.
Which irregular verbs should I teach first?
Start with high-frequency verbs learners need to talk about their own lives – was/were, went, had, did, got, saw, ate, made, came and bought – and recycle them before adding more.
Why is was/were taught separately?
Be does not use did in questions and negatives: Were you at home? I wasn't tired. Many courses teach was/were first and then the did pattern for other verbs.