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THE SIMPLE PAST TENSE

Definition – this tense is used to talk about activities or situations that began and ended in the past. We can also talk about actions that began in the past, continued in the present and in the future for an uncertain period of time but without mention it in the sentence.

COMPLEMENTS OF TIME IN PAST:

THE SIMPLE PAST TENSE OF THE VERB TO BE

Thesimple past tense of BE is: (WAS) to indicate the past of is, am (SINGULAR ); (WERE) to indicate the past of are (PLURAL). Contractions: was not = wasn’t. Were not = weren’t.

Statements Yes /No questions Short Answers
I was tired yesterday.
You were worried about Sam.
She was sad yesterday.
They were in Peru last week. Were you tired?
Were you nervous?
Was she sick?
Were they happy?Yes I was. / No, I wasn’t.
Yes, I was./ No, I wasn’t.
Yes, she was./ No, she wasn’t.
Yes, they were./ No, they weren’t.

Past tense with the verb to be: WAS (I – he – she – it) – WERE (you – we – they)

EXERCISE 1: Write a sentence in past (verb to be) for each subject.

I: …………………………………………………………………………………………………….
you: …………………………………………………………………………………………………
He:………………………………………………………………………………………………….
It: ……………………………………………………………………………………………………
They : ……………………………………………………………………………………………….
We: ………………………………………………………………………………………………….


EXERCISE 2: Complete the chart with the verb to be in past.

PRESENT PAST
Affirmative: I am, I’m.
Negative: I am not, I’m not Affirmative: I ……………..
Negative: I ………………
Aff: you are, you’re
Neg: You are not, you aren’t Aff: You …………………
Neg: You ……………….
Aff: He is, she is, it is, he’s, she’s,it’s
Neg: He is not, she is not, it is not, he isn’t, she isn’t, it isn’t Aff: He, she , it …………………………..
Neg: He , she, it …………………………
Aff: We are
Neg: We are not, we aren’t Aff: We …………………………
Neg: We ……………………….
Aff: They are, they’re
Neg: They are not, they aren’t Aff. They ……………………….
Neg: They ………………………



EXERCISE 3: Complete with the appropriate form of the verb to BE in past, then makethe negative and interrogative statements.

1. My sister and I ………………. at a party last weekend.
2. Jessica, Diana and Patty ………………………. at home, they …………….. at work.
3. Last Monday it ………….. a hot day, two days ago the day ……………… sunny and yesterday it …………………. a windy day.
4. My brothers ………………….. at school last weekend.
5. Her dogs …………………… in the garden an hour ago.
6. Charlie and Sandy………………….. in the pool this morning.
7. Last weekend I ………………… at the beach, two days after my family and I ………….. in the mountains.
8. Pablo and I ………………. good friends.
9. The scissors …………………. in the drawer three days ago.
10. The lantern ……………… on the table this afternoon.
11. An hour ago, there ………………a man at the door,
12. There …………………… three cows in the barn.
13. The containers…………………… at the port on time.
14. The executives ………………. mad at the new clients.
15. The commercial invoice ……………………. wrong.
16. The PC ……………….. a DELL.
17. The cell phones ……………………… on the shelf.
18. The shirt ………….. dirty and the pants ……………. dirty too.
19. The professor …………….. very happy at the fair.
20. The folders ……………… on the desk last Friday.

THE SIMPLE PAST TENSE: INFORMATIONQUESTIONS WITH “TO BE”
To ask information questions with be in past, we use a question word and WAS or WERE.

Information Questions Answers

Who was angry?
Why was he angry?
How long was he angry?
Where were you yesterday?
When were you there?
Sally’s boss was angry.
He was angry because Sally was late for work.
He was angry for two hours.
We were at a business meeting.
We werethere at 8:00.

EXERCISE 4:
A) Read the following questions. Compare the simple present with the simple past in the first example and then complete the questions using the correct form of the verb "to be" in the past.
Present Past
Example: Where is Jack today? Where was Jack yesterday?
What day is it today? What day ………………… it...