This document provides instruction on using verbs in the past tense in English. It covers: - Using "was" and "were" as helping verbs for singular and plural subjects. - Forming the past tense of regular verbs by adding "-ed". - Forming the past tense of irregular verbs which have unique past tense forms. - Using "did" as the helping verb in questions and negative sentences. - Types of yes/no and information questions in the past tense.

2. For singular nouns.
For plural nouns.

3. I _______ bored at the party.
The students ________ at the park.
Your boyfriend ________ very nice.
The service _______ awful.
The boys __________ happy.
was
was
was
were
were
NEGATIVE
not
not
not
not
not

4. Wasn’t
Weren’t

5. 1. The party on Saturday ______ very fun. All people _______ cool. The music
_____ great and the food _____ delicious.
2. Our last vacation ______ a disaster. The hotel _____ expensive and the
rooms _______ very small. The tours ______ very boring.
3. Last school year _______ fantastic. Most students _______ kind and nice.
Teachers _______ excellent.
4. John Lennon ______ a great musician. His wife _______ Japanese. They
_______ very involved with peace issues.
5. Schools in the past _______ different from modern ones. My first teacher
_______ very exigent. My classmates ______ obedient but I _______ (no). I
_______ very talkative and hyperactive.
YOU DO IT
Fill in the blanks using was, were, wasn’t or weren’t.

6. YES/NO QUESTIONS
Just change the position of the noun and the verb
was or were. For example:
The service was excellent.
Was the service excellent?

7. Just add –ed at the end of the verb.
Work – worked
Talk – talked
If the verb has the structure c-v-c (consonant-
vowel-consonant) duplicate the second consonant
and add –ed
Plan - planned
Stop - Stopped

8. For verbs ending with –y
Play – Played Study - Studieda d
What is the difference between these two verbs? Because
both of them end in –y but we change it in ‘study’ but not
in ‘play’.

9. Irregular verbs change differently when they are in
the simple past tense. In this case, we must learn
by heart the verbs in the past. But do not worry,
you already know the verbs in past in Spanish and
all Spanish verbs are irregular!

10. NEGATIVE
Use did not or didn’t to make a verb negative in
the past, but the verb should be in the base form.
We played soccer yesterday. (Affirmative)
We didn’t play soccer yesterday. (Negative)
Never :
We didn’t played soccer yesterday.

11. YES/NO QUESTIONS
Use did at the beginning of questions to ask
about past actions. For example:
She worked very hard in that project.
Did she work very hard in that project?
As with the negative form, when we use did we
don’t have to write the verb in past.
Never :
Did she worked very hard?

12. INFORMATION QUESTIONS
The first word is the information question word. These are:
How When What Who Why Where
After that, we use did + subject + verb in base form
+ complement.
How did you play basketball yesterday?
When did she go to the movies?
What did he do last week?
Who did you meet at school?
Why did they lie to the teacher?
Where did we go last month?

13. YOU DO IT
Change the sentence to its opposite. If it is
affirmative, change it to negative and vice versa.
1. I danced all night long.
2. Peter didn’t call his girlfriend.
3. Liza and her friends had a party last weekend.
4. Students failed the English exam.
5. Yesterday my mom cooked spaghetti.
6. They broke out last Saturday.
7. Cheryl moved back to the States.
8. Tom married 20 years ago.
9. Recently, the president travelled to Europe.
10.Last week my friend invited me to dinner.