To Be - Past Tense

English Exercises - Answers

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

1. Why were you so ill yesterday?
2. Was Steve at the library last Friday?
3. We weren’t in Spain last year, we were in France.
4. Unfortunately she wasn’t offered the job.
5. I was a good worker but he fired me anyway.
6. They were busy all day.
7. It was a very difficult situation.
8. Yesterday it was very cold. I hope it will be warmer today.
9. My brother was a teacher for 20 years.
10. They were really unkind to me, but I wasn’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
He was fat last year but now he is thin.
2. meeting / I / to / the / late
I was late to the meeting.
3. lucky / friend / very / my
My friend was very lucky.
4. 21st / the / yesterday / the / today / 22nd
Yesterday was the 21st, today is the 22nd.
5. cold / rainy / sunny / hot / It / It / and / and / not
It was cold and rainy; it was not sunny and hot.
6. policeman / firefighter / Bert / not / a / a
Bert was a policeman, he was not a firefighter.

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

(Possible Answers – Your answers will probably be different)

1. Where were you last weekend?
I was at the beach
2. Who were you with last weekend?
I was with my family
3. Where was your mother yesterday?
She was at home.
4. Were you a good student at school?
Yes, I was.
5. How did Mike feel when he got the test results?
He was very happy.
6. Why was the teacher angry?
Because the students were late to class.

If you are looking for the Free Grammar Worksheet for this activity, you will find it here:
To Be in Past Tense Exercises (PDF)

See our Grammar Notes about To Be in Past Tense and our Interactive Online Game

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