Simple Past Tense - Grade 6 Assessment

Last night, my brother and I wanted to play a video game, so we ______ our mom if we could. Which word correctly fills the blank to show this happened in the past?

• ask

• asked

• asking

• asks

Answer explanation

The sentence is about 'last night,' which is in the past. For a regular verb like 'ask,' we add '-ed' to create the simple past tense, making it 'asked'.

Read the sentence: 'For our field trip last month, we all goed to the science museum.' Is the underlined verb the correct simple past tense form?

• True

• False

Answer explanation

The verb 'go' is an irregular verb. Its simple past tense is 'went', not 'goed'. The correct sentence would be 'we all went to the science museum.'

Fill in the blank with the correct simple past tense of the verb in parentheses. My best friend (a)   (see) the new Marvel movie without me yesterday!

Answer explanation

The verb 'see' is an irregular verb. The simple past tense form, used to describe something that happened 'yesterday', is 'saw'.

Yesterday was my birthday, and my grandma ________ me an awesome gift. Which verb best completes the sentence using the simple past tense?

• bringed

• brang

• brought

• brings

Answer explanation

'Bring' is an irregular verb. Its correct simple past tense form is 'brought'. 'Bringed' and 'brang' are common mistakes but are grammatically incorrect.

Fill in the blank to complete the sentence using the simple past tense. Before the sleepover, I (a)   (put) my sleeping bag by the door so I wouldn't forget it.

Answer explanation

'Put' is an irregular verb where the simple past tense form is the same as the present tense form. The correct past tense is 'put', not 'putted'.

Read this sentence carefully: 'I didn't finished my homework because I was too tired.' Does this sentence use the simple past tense correctly?

• True

• False

Answer explanation

When you use 'did not' or 'didn't' to make a past tense sentence negative, the main verb that follows should be in its original base form, not the past tense. The correct sentence is 'I didn't finish my homework.'

Your friend wants to know if you ate the last cookie. Which question shows the correct way to ask this using the simple past tense?

• You did eat the last cookie?

• Did you ate the last cookie?

• Did you eat the last cookie?

• You eated the last cookie?

Answer explanation

To ask a yes/no question in the simple past, we apply the rule 'Did + subject + base verb'. The verb 'eat' should be in its base form, not its past tense form 'ate'.

Show you know the rule for negative past tense sentences! Fill in the blank with the correct form of the verb. We wanted to go swimming, but the pool was closed, so we did not (a)   (go).

Answer explanation

This question requires you to apply the rule for negative sentences in the past tense. After the helper verb 'did not,' we must use the base form of the main verb. So, the correct word is 'go'.

Which sentence correctly describes two actions that happened in the past?

• He opened the door and see his dog waiting.

• He open the door and saw his dog waiting.

• He opened the door and saw his dog waiting.

• He opened the door and seed his dog waiting.

Answer explanation

To show both actions happened in the past, both verbs need to be in the simple past tense. The regular verb 'open' becomes 'opened', and the irregular verb 'see' becomes 'saw'.

Your classmate wrote this sentence: 'The new video game costed fifty dollars.' This isn't quite right. Change the incorrect verb to show you know the correct past tense. The new video game (a)   fifty dollars.

Answer explanation

This is a tricky one! When talking about the price of something in the past, the verb 'cost' does not change. It's an irregular verb where the past tense is the same as the present. The correct past tense is 'cost'.