Verbs STAGE1

17 was, were: Past Simple tense of verb to be

FORM
Negative

Positive Long Short Question

I was I was not I wasn’t WasI...?
You were You were not You weren’t Were you ... ?
She was She was not She wasn’t Was she ..
He was He was not He wasn’t Was he
It was It was not It wasn’t Was it ... 2
We were ‘We were not We weren’t Were we .
They were They were not ~ They weren’t Were they ... ?

Practice
17a Complete the sentences using was or were.
1 He .. was.. very tired yesterday.
2 They ..were. not very happy together.
3 You........... very angry with me last night.
4 Her doctor ............ not very helpful.
5 in France last summer.
6 .. not in the office yesterday.
7 1. in bed all morning.
8 It. ... not very warm in the swimming pool.
9 You......... not very friendly to my sister.
10 She ............ a beautiful baby.
11 The children ............ awake early this morning.
121 not with them in the restaurant.
13 Ruth coseecisesa. on holiday last week.
y (B ((FRRT—— a very nice letter.
15 We ..o very pleased to see you.
16 Callum and his brother Josh ............ here last night.

17b Complete the story, adding was and were.

It'. . a beautiful day. The sun *, 5.. hot and the sky *
James and Wendy “............... on the beach. They *
three children. The children ®............... in the sea. The sea’
bit cold but the children ®............... very happy. There °
other children in the sea too: some of them “...............
 Verbs STAGE 1

their parents. Wendy and James "............... on the sand and James
B, e s ames asleep with a book on his face. But suddenly there “.........
grey clouds all over the sky and the sun ™............... not hot any more. The
beautiful weather *............... finished and there *............... wet picnics
and wet people everywhere. A British summer holiday!

17c¢ In your notebook, write questions and answers about the story above,
using was or were.

1 The weather nice?

‘Was the weather nice?’ 'Yes, it was a beautiful day.’

2 Where/James and Wendy?

‘Where were James and Wendy?' ‘They were on the beach.’

‘Where/their children?
W

Other children in the sea?

;Lo

James and Wendy in the sea?

James awake?
What/on James’ face?
N

Sunny all day?

®

The holidaymakers wet in the end?

©

10 Where/this beach?

17d In your notebook, write ten questions about a friend’s trip to London, using
the table below. Then choose a short answer for each question.

the-underg d-trat 2
the-weather comfortable?
the streets beautiful? Yes, it was.
the people friendly? No, it wasn’t.
Was the parks busy?
‘Were the airport clean? Yes, they were.
the museums expensive? No, they weren’t.
the shops good?
the hotel fast?
the food interesting?

Examples: ‘Were the underground trains fast?' 'Yes, they were.’

‘Was the weather warm?' ‘No, it wasn't.

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Verbs STAGE 1

18 I walked to school: Past Simple tense: positive

FORM

I, You
He, She, It walked
We, They

* Add ed to regular verbs. The verb is the same for all persons: I, you, she,
he, it, we and they.
Notes
* Spelling:
Verbs ending in:
like - liked e, add d.
study - studied consonant + y, change y =i + ed
' stop - stopped vowel + consonant, double the
consonant and add ed.
* yand w at the end of a word are not consonant sounds. So verbs ending in y
or w do not double the consonant:
play - played

» See Appendix 2 on spelling rules.

USE
* We use the past simple to talk about the past.

Practice
18a Write the past simple of these verbs.
stay stayed listen study

rain rained love cry

help wash work

carry stop start

want ! ask live
play look watch

walk open like

18b Complete these sentences in the past simple.

1 I .stayed. at home all weekend. (stay)
2 She ..cried.. all night. (cry)
E T every day last week. (rain)
4 We .ooiiiiiiiiiiii to her very carefully. (listen)

S5 He ooooieeieeeeeeenns her very much. (love)

6 The shop «ooooeveeeveeeeieiaenns at 5 o’clock. (close)

30 7 My friends ae:: soume s s to stay all weekend. (want)
 Verbs STAGE 1

19 Past Simple tense: positive: irregular verhs

We saw a good film last night.
1 bought all my Christmas presents at the weekend.
They had a good time at the party.

I, You, She, He, It, We, They saw ... . ‘

® The verb is the same for all persons: I, you, she, he, it, we and they.

There are a lot of irregular verbs.

Practice
19 Complete the tables below.
» See the list of irregular verbs in Appendix 1.
Infinitive Past simple Infinitive Past simple Infinitive Past simple
bring brought give Tun

buy bought went saw

come have shut

do know swim

drank left take

drove lost taught
find make tell
flew meet thought
forget put understand

! get (up) read write

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Verbs STAGE 1

20 Past simple tense: positive

Check
20a Write these sentences in the past simple.
1 1see my parents every weekend. (last weekend)
| saw my parents last weekend.

2 Matthew always asks a lot of questions. (this morning)

2
 Verbs STAGE 1

20b Complete the sentences about Kelly’s morning using a verb in the
past simple. Use the verbs in the box.

read get dressed leave Havegshowes turn on

brush gerup make a cup of tea eat wash

1 S’Z 2

Il
Kelly ..g0%tup...
She ..had a shower. .
N
W
A
UM
N
®
©

3
Verbs STAGE 1

21 Past Simple tense: questions and negatives

FORM
Question

Did Subject Infinitive

I
you
she walk?
Did he go?
it come?
we
they
e Did + subject + infinitive for all persons and all verbs, regular and irregular.
Did you go ... ? Did you walk ... ?
NOT DBid-y —2 Bid-3 tked——
Negative
Subject did not Infinitive

1
You
She did not walk.
He (didn’t) go.
It come.
We
They
® Subject + did not + infinitive for all persons and all verbs, regular
and irregular.
He did not go ... .
NOT He-did-rot-ert——

Practice

21 In your notebook, put these sentences into the past simple. Write them in
the positive form, the question form and the negative form.

1 She gets up early in the morning.

She got'up early in the morning.
Did she get up early in the morning?

She didn't get up early in the morning.

2 He teaches history at the university.

He taught history at the university.
Did he teach history at the university?
He didn’t teach history at the university.

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 Verbs STAGE 1

They leave home at 8 o’clock.

NV AW
He stays in very good hotels.
You smoke a lot.
I look very tired.
‘We stop at Oxford.
The restaurant closes at 11 o’clock.
®

Pam buys a lot of clothes.

©

10 The birds fly away to other countries.

22 Past Simple tense: times in the past

Last night / week / month / year
Three minutes / hours / days / nights / weeks / months / years ago

Practice
22 Answer the questions using last or ago and the words in brackets.
1 When did you speak to Peter? (week)
Last week.

2 When did they buy that car? (two years)

8 When did they go to Australia? (year)

9 When did Max phone? (night)

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Verbs STAGE 1

23 Past Simple tense

Check
23 Complete the conversation with the verbs in the past simple.
9. (you/go) for your last summer holiday?

B: We? (go) to Egypt.

A: Oh really? How interesting! *............ccc.ccoeeunenn (you/enjoy) it?
B: Ohyes, we . ...ooooiiiiannieiiinnnns JPaul C (love) the

River Nile and T °............oooiiiiei. (think) the pyramids and all the
historical sights 7..................... (be) fascinating.
A: How long ®..cconeuesssonsusssssvmsess (you/stay)?
B: For four weeks. We *........cccccoocooiiiiinnns (be) there for the whole of
October.
A: How nice. SO you "........cooeeenieinnnnnnns (have) lots of time to travel

round.
B: Yes, we "ot - well, quite a lot. But we only
L (see) a few places so I'd like to go again.
A M samasons suswaass s 5w (you/learn) any Egyptian Arabic?
Br I but Paul ®.........cooveiiiins n't. 1
1, ... (study) the language for a few weeks before we
, ... (go). 1".. . (find) a good Arabic

language cassette in the local library and that .. (be)

very helpful.
P S (you/talk) to the local people?
B: Not really, but I2............oooooiinns (know) how to order food and
drink in the cafés and restaurants.
A: Well, that’s good.
B: Yesiitis; butI2... cuueess ssnsssnsssansess (want) to talk to people too so I'm
still studying Arabic and I hope to go again next year.
A: Well, best of luck!

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Appendices
Appendix 1 Common irregular verbs

Infinitive Past simple Past participle Infinitive Past simple Past participle
be was/were been lie lay lain
beat beat beaten light lit lit
become became become lose lost lost
begin began begun make made made
bite bit bitten mean meant meant
blow blew blown meet met met
break broke broken pay paid paid
bring brought brought put put put
build built built read read read
buy bought bought ride rode ridden
catch caught caught ring rang rung
choose chose chosen rise rose risen
come came come run ran run
cost cost cost say said said
cut cut cut see saw seen
do did done sell sold sold
draw drew drawn send sent sent
drink drank drunk set set set
drive drove driven shake shook shaken
eat ate eaten shine shone shone
fall fell fallen shoot shot shot
feed fed fed show showed shown
feel felt felt shut shut shut
fight fought fought sing sang sung
find found found sink sank sunk
fly flew flown sit sat sat
forget forgot forgotten sleep slept slept
get got got speak spoke spoken
give gave given spend spent spent
go went gone stand stood stood
grow grew grown steal stole stolen
hang hung hung swim swam swum
have had had take took taken
hear heard heard teach taught taught
hide hid hidden tear tore torn
hit hit hit tell told told
hold held held think thought thought
hurt hurt hurt throw threw thrown
keep kept kept understand understood understood
know knew known wake woke woken
leave left left wear wore worn
lend lent lent win won won
let let let write wrote written

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