Mastering Past Tense: Grammar Unit 3 for ESO Students

Josep Tous School – Barcelona

English Department / 2nd ESO

Teacher: Marga Alegre

Grammar Unit 3: Past Tense

Verb to Be: Was / Were

WAS / WERE = Ser o estar en passat (ESTAVA o ERA).

I WAS
YOU WERE
HE WAS
SHE WAS
IT WAS
WE WERE
YOU WERE
THEY WERE

(+) Subject + WAS / WERE + complements
(-) Subject + WAS / WERE + NOT + complements
WAS + NOT = WASN’T
WERE + NOT = WEREN’T
(?) [Wh- QUESTIONS] + WAS / WERE + Subject + complements?

Josep Tous School – English Department – Teacher: Marga Alegre / Grammar Unit 3 Page 2

Examples:

(+) We were at home yesterday.

(-) We weren’t at home last Friday.

(?) Were we at home last month? Yes, we were / no, we weren’t.

(?) Where were we two weeks ago? … at home.

(+) She was a famous actress.

(-) She wasn’t a famous actress.

(?) Was she a famous actress? Yes, she was / no, she wasn’t.

(?) What was she? She was a famous actress.

There Was / Were

(Past forms of there is / are)

THERE WAS / WERE … = Hi havia …
Singular: (+) There was …
(-) There was not or there wasn’t …
(?) [Wh- QUESTIONS] + was there ….?

Josep Tous School – English Department – Teacher: Marga Alegre / Grammar Unit 3 Page 3

Examples:

(+) There was a fly in the classroom.

(-) There wasn’t a fly in the classroom.

(?) Was there a fly in the classroom?
Yes, there was / no, there wasn’t.

(?) What was there in the classroom? … a fly.

Plural: (+) There were …
(-) There were not or there weren’t …
(?) [Wh- QUESTIONS] + were there ….?

Examples:

(+) There were some flies in the classroom.

(-) There weren’t any flies in the classroom.

(?) Were there any flies in the classroom?
Yes, there were / no, there weren’t.

(?) What were there in the classroom? … flies.

Josep Tous School – English Department – Teacher: Marga Alegre / Grammar Unit 3 Page 4

Past Simple

USE: To express an action that we did or happened in the past.

(+) Subject + VERB IN PAST + complements
REGULAR / IRREGULAR
-ed ending 2nd column of the list
Work / worked run ran run

I worked a lot last year We ran a lot in the PE class yesterday

Special points about regular verbs (only in affirmative):

  1. -e ending, we only add -d.

dance / danced.

  1. 1 syllable verb, (c + v + c):

we double the last consonant and we add -ed.
stop / stopped
clap / clapped

Attention! Help – Helped, not helpped !!!

Josep Tous School – English Department – Teacher: Marga Alegre / Grammar Unit 3 Page 5

  1. Y ending:

If there is a vowel before -y —————— -y never disappears and we add -ed: play / played.

If there is a consonant before -y ———– -y changes into -i and we add -ed: cry / cried.

  1. -l ending: we write double l and we add -ed.
    travel / travelled
  2. Two syllable verb, stressed at the end.

We double the last consonant.
prefer / preferred

(-) Subject + DID + NOT + verb in INFINITIVE + complements
DIDN’T = DID NOT
(?) [Wh- QUESTIONS] + DID + Subject + verb in INFINITIVE + complements ?

Josep Tous School – English Department – Teacher: Marga Alegre / Grammar Unit 3 Page 6

Examples:

Regular verb:

(+) My father worked in a bank two years ago.

(-) My father didn’t work in a bank last year.

(?) Did your father work in a bank 10 years ago?
Yes, he did / no, he didn’t.

(?) Where did your father work two years ago?… in a bank.

(?) When did your father work in a bank? … 10 years ago.

Irregular verb:

(+) My mum made a delicious pizza yesterday.

(-) My mum didn’t make a delicious pizza last week.

(?) Did my mum make a delicious pizza last Saturday?
Yes, she did / no, she didn’t.

(?) What did my mum make two weeks ago? … a pizza.

(?) When did my mum make a delicious pizza?

Josep Tous School – English Department – Teacher: Marga Alegre / Grammar Unit 3 Page 7

Time Expressions:

Yesterday ahir
The day before yesterday abans d´ahir
Last …. week la setmana passada
month el mes passat
year l´any passat
class la darrera classe
2, 3, 4, … days ago Fa 2, 3, 4, …. dies
week setmanes
months mesos
years anys

Position:

We place these time expressions at the end of the sentence and, occasionally, at the beginning with comma