Let's solve this step by step. The task is to
rewrite each sentence in the past tense. This means we need to change the verbs from present or future tense to
past tense, while keeping the meaning of the sentence as close as possible.
---
1. Jack plays soccer every day.
- Original verb: *plays* (present simple)
- Past tense: *played*
- Rewrite:
Jack played soccer every day.
>
✔ Note: "Every day" refers to a habitual action in the past, so we use past simple.
---
2. Mary will run to school tomorrow.
- Original verb: *will run* (future tense)
- To make it past tense, we change "will" to "would" and "run" to "ran"
- But more naturally, we say:
Mary ran to school yesterday.
(We often change time expressions like "tomorrow" to "yesterday" when converting to past tense.)
>
✔ So:
Mary ran to school yesterday.
---
3. Madeline is playing the piano.
- Original verb: *is playing* (present continuous)
- Past continuous form: *was playing*
- Rewrite:
Madeline was playing the piano.
>
✔ We use "was" because Madeline is singular.
---
4. Sam enjoys spending time with his cousins.
- Original verb: *enjoys* (present simple)
- Past tense: *enjoyed*
- Rewrite:
Sam enjoyed spending time with his cousins.
>
✔ Regular verb – just add "-ed".
---
5. Riley and her friends go shopping together.
- Original verb: *go* (present simple, plural subject)
- Past tense: *went*
- Rewrite:
Riley and her friends went shopping together.
>
✔ "Went" is the past tense of "go".
---
6. Will you go to the supermarket tomorrow?
- Future question → past tense
- Change "will you go" to "did you go"
- Time: "tomorrow" → "yesterday"
- Rewrite:
Did you go to the supermarket yesterday?
>
✔ Use auxiliary "did" for past questions, and base form of verb ("go").
---
7. Sally will buy some books from the shop.
- Future: "will buy"
- Past tense: "bought"
- Time: "tomorrow" → "yesterday" (implied)
- Rewrite:
Sally bought some books from the shop.
>
✔ "Bought" is the past tense of "buy".
---
✔ Final Answers:
1. Jack played soccer every day.
2. Mary ran to school yesterday.
3. Madeline was playing the piano.
4. Sam enjoyed spending time with his cousins.
5. Riley and her friends went shopping together.
6. Did you go to the supermarket yesterday?
7. Sally bought some books from the shop.
---
🔍 Explanation:
To convert sentences to
past tense, we:
- Change the main verb to its past form (e.g., play → played, go → went).
- Adjust auxiliary verbs (e.g., will → did/would, is → was).
- Often adjust time words (e.g., tomorrow → yesterday, today → yesterday).
- Keep the subject and object consistent.
This helps show that the actions happened
in the past.
Parent Tip: Review the logic above to help your child master the concept of preterite tense worksheet.
