verb to be in past tense

1. Verb To Be
past tense

2. Description
• The past tense of "to be" is used to join a
subject with a word or words that tell something
about the subject that happened in the past. We
often use words such as "yesterday" or phrases
such as "last week" or "last year" to indicate
when something happened in the past .
• The verb "be" is an irregular verb. We use "was"
with a singular pronoun or noun and "were"
with a plural pronoun or noun.
An exception to this is the pronoun "you"
which always uses "were".

3. Positive
I was
• You were
• He was
• She was
• It was
• We were
• You were
• They were
Examples:
I was a student.
The baby was tired.
She was fat.
You were sick.
It was a fast car.
We were wet.
You were friends.
The janitors were happy.

4. Exercise• 01). You ____ always a nice person.
– Was
– were
• 02). The president ____ intelligent.
– was
– were
• 03). My sons ____ plumbers.
– was
– were
• 04). Donna ____ a good chef.
– was
– were
• 05). The two candles ____ purple.
– was
– were

5. Negative
The negative of the past tense of the verb "be" is
formed by placing "not" after the verb.
• I was not I wasn't
• You were not You weren't
• He was not He wasn't
• She was not She wasn't
• It was not It wasn't
• We were not We weren't
• You were not You weren't
• They were not They weren't

6. Examples:
• I wasn't hungry.
• Andy wasn't tall.
• The furniture wasn't new.
• The living room was not neat.
• We weren't late.
• The men were not smart.
• Her friends weren't poor.

7. EXERCISES
• 01). Our aunt ____ rich.
• was not
• were not
• 02). The policeman ____ very angry.
• was not
• were not
• 03). The clowns ____ fat.
• was not
• were not
• 04). We ____ hungry.
• was not
• were not
• 05). I ____ a pretty child.
• was not
• were not

8. Question Form
• In the question form of the past tense, the
verb form of "be" comes before the noun
or pronoun.
Was I ______? Were you _____?
Was he _____? Was she _____?
Was it _____? Were we _____?
Were you ______? Were they _____?

9. Examples:
• Was I early?
• Was the camera expensive?
• Were Dan and Lynn at the party?
• Were your parents artists?
• Were you busy yesterday?
• Was the weather hot?
• Was Tony al home?

10. EXERCISES
• 01). ____ her birthday in January?
• Was
• Were
• 02). ____ the movie good?
• Was
• Were
• 03). ____ the doctor in the office?
• Was
• Were
• 04). ____ the lifeguards busy?
• Was
• Were
• 05). ____ I late for work?
• Was
• Were

11. SHORTI ANSWERS
• When we do short answers we change the
noun by the personal pronoun.
• Maria she.
• The weather it
• Luis he
• Maria and Luis they
• I and Jose we

12. EXERCISES
• 1.- Was Luis a good student?
• Yes,____________________________
• 2.- Were my friends happy?
• No,____________________________
• 3.- Were you on time?
• Yes, I____________________
• 4.- Were luis and maria friends?
• Yes,_________________________
• 5.- Was the weather fine?
• No,_________________________

13. EXAMPLES
• Was his car new?
• Yes. It was
• No it wasn’t
• Were you at home yesterday?
• Yes, we were
• No, we weren’t
• Was the meeting long?
• Yes it was.
• No, it wasn’t