English Grammar Exercises for A1 – Past simple: be and can

1. Circle the correct words to complete the sentences.

1) Jason waswasn’t at school. He was on holiday.

2) Pete and Kate waswere at the theatre last night.

3) Wendy and Jo wereweren’t with me. WasWere they with you?

4   ‘WasWere you at home last night?’ ‘Yes, I waswere .’

5) Harry waswere in Spain last summer.

6) The weather waswere really nice last weekend – warm and sunny.

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1) wasn’t   2) were   3) weren’t, Were   4) Were, was   5) was   6) was

2. Look at the table. Write sentences about where the people were. Use the past simple form of be, affirmative or negative.

Day

Freddy

Nola

Mon

London

Manchester

Tues

Cardiff

Cardiff

Wed

Bristol

London

Thur

Newcastle

Bristol

Fri

Liverpool

Liverpool

Sat and Sun

Plymouth

Nottingham


1) Freddy / Manchester / Monday

 Freddy wasn’t in Manchester on Monday.

2) Nola / London / Wednesday

 ________

3) Freddy and Nola / Newcastle / Tuesday

 ________

4) Freddy / Plymouth / Saturday and Sunday

 ________

5) Nola / London / Monday

 ________

6) Freddy and Nola / Liverpool / Friday

     ________

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2) Nola was in London on Wednesday.

3) Freddy and Nola weren’t in Newcastle on Tuesday.

4) Freddy was in Plymouth on Saturday and Sunday.

5) Nola wasn’t in London on Monday.

6) Freddy and Nola were in Liverpool on Friday.

3. Where were you? Write questions and true answers.

1) at two o’clock in the morning?

  Where were you at two o’clock in the morning?

  I was in bed.

2) at ten o’clock yesterday morning?

  ________

  ________

3) at three o’clock yesterday afternoon?

  ________

  ________

4) at seven o’clock on Friday evening?

  ________

  ________

5) at eleven o’clock on Saturday night?

     ________

     ________

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2) Where were you at ten o’clock yesterday morning?

(students’ own answers)

3) Where were you at three o’clock yesterday afternoon?

(students’ own answers)

4) Where were you at seven o’clock on Friday evening?

(students’ own answers)

5) Where were you at eleven o’clock Saturday night?

(students’ own answers)

4. What could Sarah and Mike do at these ages? Look at the table and write questions and answers. Use be and can.

Sarah

Mike

swim

age three

age four

read

age five

age three

ride a bike

age six

age six


1) Mike / swim / three?

     Could Mike swim when he was three?

     No, he couldn’t.

2) Sarah / swim / four?

 ________

 ________

3) Mike / read / three?

 ________

 ________

4) Sarah / read / four?

 ________

 ________

5) Mike and Sarah / ride a bike / six?

     ________

     ________

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2) Could Sarah swim when she was four? Yes, she could.

3) Could Mike read when he was three? Yes, he could.

4) Could Sarah read when she was four? No, she couldn’t.

5) Could Mike and Sarah ride a bike when they were six? Yes, they could.

5. Complete the dialogue. Use the correct past simple form of be and can (affirmative, negative and interrogative).

Zoe Hi, Erin. Are you having a good time in Africa?

Erin Yes, I am. I phoned you on Saturday, but you 1) _____ at home. Then I tried to phone you yesterday. But I 2) _____ get a signal.

Zoe   Where are you now?

Erin  In Zanzibar. We arrived two days ago. Yesterday we 3) _____ at the beach. I tried surfing, but it was really difficult – I 4) _____ stand up!

Zoe 5 _____ there any sharks?

Erin No! Well, I 6) _____ see any!

Zoe 7 _____ you in Tanzania last week?

Erin Yes, we 8) _____ We climbed Mount Kilimanjaro. The view from the top 9) _____ fantastic! I 10) _____ see for miles!

Zoe Wow! That sounds amazing!

Show answers

1) weren’t   2) couldn’t   3) were   4) couldn’t   5) Were

6) couldn’t   7 Were   8) were   9) was   10) could

6. Complete the dialogue with the correct form of be or could (affirmative, negative or interrogative).

Tracy Can you remember your first school, Pat?

Pat    Yes, I can.

Tracy How old 1) _____ you?

Pat   2) _____ five years old on first day at school.

Tracy 3 _____ you read at the age of five?

Pat    Yes, I 4) _____ But I 5) _____ write. hand was too small to hold the pencil!

Tracy Who 6) _____ your favourite teacher?

Pat    All the teachers 7) _____ very kind. But favourite 8) _____ class teacher, Miss Adcock.

Show answers

1) were   2) was   3) Could   4) could   5) couldn’t   6) was

7) were   8) was

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