A selection of English ESL simple past activities printables

This is the worksheet version of the video lesson I created. Students identify the form of the passive voice in the Past Simple, for both affirmative and negative sentences. This exercise also involves a speaking task and provides an extension activity for fast finishers...

Passive Voice - Hachiko

Objective: to have students use the past simple tense to describe what they did on summer break.



Type of worksheet: grammar and speaking.



The worksheet has students write sentences and speak about what they did on summer break/vacation. 

I start with an icebreaker about what I did on summer break using the past simple tense of verbs. I give examples from the verb table and write what I say as example sentences on the board.



It is geared towards lower level learners as it has a verb table with the conjugations. It also has a table of nouns/activities for students to use if they cannot think of examples/vocabulary.



The task 1 of worksheet introduces the grammar and they WRITE to fill in the blanks with the conjugated verbs from the table. 



Task 2 they WRITE sentences where the fill in the verbs and nouns and practice SPEAKing the sentences with their partners.



Task 3 has the students SPEAK and ask questions about activities they did and their partner needs to answer using the past tense form of the verbs. They then WRITE what their partner said and then switch roles.



Task 4 has their partner ask about two favorite things they did on break and WRITE and SPEAK in full sentences using the past tense. Then they switch roles.



Answers/ example sentences are on page 2



Time: 50 minutes

What did you do on Summer Break?  -using past simple tense

A pair-work speaking activity to discover times and actions in the daily routine of a working girl. Asking questions, giving the time, using the present simple.  Can be adapted with the past simple.  

A day in the life of working girl Jenny Marsh

Severla activitiesto  work on the use of for  , since and ago with present simple or past simple , first studenst have to classify the time expressions  according to the rules,then transform sentences with ago

For , since  or ago

this worksheet is excellent to reinforce passive voice in present and past simple plus the difference between active and passive!!! 

The task is to complete the missing elements in the sentences, a lot of questions 

passive vs active voice with present simple and past simple

Now , some actiivties to learn , revise and practise the past simple , first with regular verbs, you will find a small grammar guide  nad  ex to build  positives, negative and interrogatives sentences  and a small writing activity 

past simple regular  verbs : grammar guide and practice on 2 pages

Excellent worksheet to practice Present Continuous and Past simple. I used it with my secondary students and with my adult students. They liked it a lot! Everyone loves Ed Sheeran. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Vv-BfVoq4g

Perfect - Ed Sheeran - Present Continuous & Past Simple

These Present Simple conversation questions provide speaking practice around various topics. Get 100+ FREE resources when you register at TEFLlessons.com


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Present Simple Conversation Activity

I was thinking about a fun activity to help students memorize verbs in the past simple.  It is a game like Dominoes, with the first and second columns of verbs instead of numbers.   2 or more students may play the game. Teachers can work on past form, spelling and pronunciation. The student has to read the two forms aloud every time he/she gets a pair.  The student who finishes his/her dominoes firt is the winner. The teacher can make new rules for the game.

Domino Verbs: Basic X Past Simple Forms.

Here is an activity with that  superb song, students have to complete with the missing words, then find the past simple of the verbs given.Links to two videos and full lyrics on pages 3 and 4. Enjoy!:)

7 Years:Lukas Graham :song to complete plus past simple activity

This worksheet consists of four exercises dealing with present perfect and future simple passive. Answer key is provided.  https://en.islcollective.com/download/english-esl-worksheets/grammar/passive-voice-or-active-voice/passive-1-present-and-past-simple/120957

The Passive-2 (present perfect and future simple)

There are different activities in order to practice the simple past tense  with regular and irregular verbs.It's really helpful if you include the solutions in the resource as it makes it easier for us in class to 

Super Quick Review - Past Simple Verbs - For Spanish Speakers

Culture, intercultural communication, cross-cultural communication

Adjectives to describe feelings, emotions

Adjectives to describe personality and character

Adjectives: Gradable / Non-gradable adjectives

Articles: Definite or indefinite article (a, an or the)

BE + infinitive structures (e.g. he was to become famous)

Clauses of contrast (e.g.  although, while)

Clauses of purpose (e.g. in order to, so that, so as to)

Clauses of reason (e.g. because, because of, due to, as, since)

Cleft sentences (e.g. It's Joey we're looking for)

Comparison: Comparative adjectives and structures

Comparison: Superlative adjectives and structures

Conditional 2 (second conditional) - would

Conditionals: Conditional phrases (e.g. unless, provided that, as long as)

Conjunctions (aka connectives, e.g. and, but, or, so, then)

Contractions (shortened forms, e.g. don't, aren't, etc.)

Determiners (words that can come before nouns)

Formal and informal English (politeness or colloquial language)

Future perfect continuous (progressive) tense

Future perfect simple and continuous (progressive) tense

Future phrases (e.g. be about to, bound to, likely to, due to, set to + INF)

Homonyms (two words with the same pronunciation - homophones and homographs)

It as preparatory subject (e.g. it's raining, it's nice of you to)

Linking verbs (aka copulas, e.g. I am a student)

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how to accuse somebody of something in English

how to apologize, say sorry, forgive and express regret in English

how to ask for information and make inquiries in English

how to ask for something, make requests in English

how to blame somebody for something in English

how to defend yourself from criticism in English

how to deny or admit something in English

how to describe things or people in English

how to emphasize important things in English

how to encourage or discourage people in English

how to evaluate people or progress in English

how to express agreement /disagreement in English

how to express approval and disapproval  in English

how to express cause and effect in English

how to express interest in something in English

how to express likelihood, probability in English

how to express likes and dislikes in English

how to express sequence and chronology in English

how to express shock and disbelief in English

how to express sympathy and condolences in English

how to give permission, authorization in English

how to inform somebody about some news in English

how to interpret what was said in English

how to keep a conversation going in English

how to make guesses about something in English

how to make, accept and refuse offers in English

how to order or make a booking in English

how to persuade, convince people in English

how to praise people and express appreciation in English

how to reassure somebody of something in English

how to refuse and object to something in English

how to remind people of something in English

how to rephrase, paraphrase what was said in English

how to say thank you, express gratitude in English

Nouns: Collective nouns (team, class, family, committee)

Nouns: Proper nouns (names of people, cities, companies)

Oxymorons (phrases with words of contradictory meaning, e.g. living dead)

Participles: Past participle (e.g. HAVING DONE)

Participles: Present participle (e.g. DOING)

Parts of Speech (aka word classes, e.g. nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs)

Past perfect continuous (progressive) tense

Phonetics (pronunciation, IPA, phonetic symbols)

Plural nouns: regular plurals with S ending

Prefixes (e.g. A, UN, IM, DIS, MIS, EN, etc. )

Prepositions vs adverbs (e.g. before me, saw him before.)

Prepositions: Double prepositions (e.g. out of)

Prepositions: Participle prepositions (e.g. pending, concerning)

Prepositions: Phrase prepositions (e.g. by means of)

Present perfect continuous (progressive) tense

Present perfect simple or present continuous tense

Present simple tense: S for third person singular verbs

Present simple vs continuous (progressive) tense

Pronouns: EACH OTHER, ONE ANOTHER (reciprocal pronouns)

Pronouns: Possessive pronouns (e.g. my, mine)

Pronouns: Reflexive pronouns (e.g. myself, yourself))

Pronouns: SOMEBODY, ANYBODY, EVERYBODY, NO ONE, NOTHING, etc.

Pronouns: THIS, THAT, THESE, THOSE (demonstratives)

Pronouns: YOU and THEY to talk about people in general

Quantifiers (e.g. some, many, much, any, few, little)

Questions: WH questions (open-ended questions)

Reported speech: reported questions (indirect questions)

There is / there are / there was / there were / there will be, etc.

Verbs: Transitive or intransitive verbs (words that can or cannot stand with objects)

Working with Paragraphs: ordering, titling

Role play, miming, drama activity or improv game

Pictionary (picture dictionary) or picture matching

Writing an opinion essay (persuasive essay)

Learners who are Pre-A1 have just begun learning English and will first learn how to:<ul><li>Say the letters in the alphabet and numbers</li><li>Say hello, talk about names and age</li><li>Name the colors and dates, express likes and dislikes</li></ul>

Absolute beginners who have begun to learn the letters and numbers

Learners taking the A1 Elementary exam should be able to:<ul><li>Introduce themselves and ask and answer questions about personal details such as where he/she lives, things he/she has, people he/she knows.</li><li>Communicate using very basic phrases as long as the other person talks slowly and clearly and is prepared to help.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: common adjectives & adverbs of frequency, going to, how much/how many, imperatives, I'd like, 's – possessive, common prepositions of place and time, present simple & continuous, there is/are</li></ul>

A very basic tourist level, which is enough for buying food and a bus ticket

Learners taking the A2 Pre-intermediate exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand sentences and frequently used expressions (e.g. very basic personal and family information, shopping, local geography, employment).</li><li>Complete tasks that are routine and exchange information about familiar matters.</li><li>Describe matters of immediate need in simple terms.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: countable/uncountable nouns, adverbs of frequency, future will/going to, much/many, present perfect, past simple, past continuous, common phrasal verbs, common modals: can/should</li></ul>

A tourist who can do basic conversations about the past, present and future

Learners taking the B1 Intermediate exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand points regarding family, work, school or leisure-related topics.</li><li>Deal with most travel situations in areas where the language is spoken.</li><li>Create simple texts on topics of personal interest.</li><li>Describe experiences, events, dreams, and ambitions, as well as opinions or plans in brief.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: question tags, intensifiers: too/enough, future tenses, past tenses, modals, conditionals, wh-questions in the past</li></ul>

Learners who can deal with both familiar and routine situations, in friendly and work contexts

Learners taking the B2 Upper-intermediate exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand the main ideas of complex text on both concrete and abstract topics, including technical discussions in his/her field of specialization.</li><li>Interact with fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction with native speakers quite possible without difficulty for either party.</li><li>Produce clear, detailed text on a wide range of subjects and explain an opinion on a topical issue giving the advantages and disadvantages of various options.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: perfect tenses, mixed conditionals, modals in the present, phrasal verbs, reported speech, wish, relative clauses</li></ul>

The level where you can be a tour guide for your foreign friends and talk about a lot of topics, even abstract ones, with ease and fluency

Learners taking the C1 Advanced exam should be able to: Express ideas fluently and spontaneously without much obvious searching for expressions. Use language flexibly and effectively for social, academic and professional purposes. Understand a wide range of demanding, longer texts. Produce clear, well-structured, detailed text on complex subjects, using linking phrases (=words that connect ideas between sentences). Main grammar points to know: inversion, mixed conditionals, modals in the past, all passive forms, phrasal verbs (all patterns), wish/if only for regrets

Learners who can smoothly communicate in every walk of life, read long texts and write well

Learners taking the C2 Proficient exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand almost everything read or heard with ease.</li><li>Summarize information from a variety of sources into a coherent presentation.</li><li>Express themselves using precise meaning in complex scenarios.</li><li>Can express him/herself spontaneously, very fluently and precisely, differentiating finer shades of meaning even in the most complex situations</li></ul>

Get here and you are ready to study in English at university

408 Simple past activities English ESL worksheets pdf & doc