Simple past of the verb to be

Was / Were (era / estaba)

When using the simple past of the verb to be you can describe or express things
from the past.

For example:
 Occupations: teacher, student, engineer, lawyer, cashier, actor, actress, etc. ( a / an )

 Nationalities: Honduran, Mexican, Puerto Rican, Peruvian, Russian, Italian, etc.

 Feeling or emotion: in love, mad, hungry, angry, embarrassed, sad, etc.

 Places: church, college, garage, home, apartment, stadium, supermarket, etc. (in the)

 Personality: intelligent, curious, lunatic, friendly, funny, crazy, etc.

 To give personal information: name, last name, cell phone number, date of birth, age, address,

zodiac sign, marital status, etc.

 Appearance: tall – average - short, handsome – ugly, pretty, beautiful, gorgeous, chubby, slim,
skinny, athletic, etc.
Lets describe someone from the past:

She was Bertha Caceres.

She was Honduran.

She was from La Esperanza, Intibucá.

She was 46 years old when she was murdered.

Her birthday was on March 4th.

Her occupation was an environmental activist.

She was average, she was chubby, she was not an athletic person.

Her personality was hardworking, brave, enthusiastic and humble.

 Teacher introduces (+) (-) (?) statements

(+) I was an actor 2 years ago.

(-) I was not / wasn’t an actor two years ago.
(?) Were you an actor 2 years ago? yes, I was. / No, I was not.
 (+) They were in the mall.
(-) They weren’t / were not in the mall.
(?) Were they in the mall? Yes, they were. / No, they were not

(+) He was in love with her.

(-) He was not / wasn’t in love with her.
(?) Was he in love with her? Yes, he was. / No, he was not.

 T. displays Was and were exercises 1

 Was and were exercises 2
The simple past – other verbs – action / movement

Examples:
1. Go: Last weekend I went to Siguatepeque.
2. Travel: 2 years ago I traveled to Hawaii.
3. Graduate: I graduated from collegue in 2006.
4. Buy: I bought my first car 4 years ago.
5. Build: I built my house last year.

Clue - Key words:

Last year 10 years ago Last January Last week
Last weekend 5 hours ago in 2021 five minutes ago
  Verbs in the past are divided into regular and irregular verbs

Regular Verbs: ed / d

Love = loved cook = cooked

Listen = listened enjoy = enjoyed

Hike = hiked rent = rented

Irregular verbs: Most of the time written in a different way.

Write = wrote drive = drove
sell = sold study = studied
Let = let bet = bet
Read = *Read Cut = Cut

No hay ninguna regla para identificar los verbos regulares de los irregulares, solo
queda aprenderlos!
Regular verbs pronunciation

/t/ p, k, s, f, sh, ch, th, gh, x, c, g

Wrapp/ed finish/ed help/ed

Laugh/ed hike/d Kiss/ed

/d/ b, v, z, m, n, l, r, y, w

Realize/d love/d kill/ed

Resume/d boil/ed

/ed/ d, t

Rent/ed invite/d decide/d want/ed

Exercises: Write / t / / d / / ed / sound next to each verb in the past

Learn/ed fix/ed start/ed want/ed

Miss/ed call/ed cook/ed play/ed

Wash/ed live/d smile/d watch/ed

Stopp/ed like/d talk/ed expect/ed

Explain/ed open/ed order/ed answer/ed

Arrive/d return/ed mix/ed ask/ed

Attend/ed attach/ed examine/d detect/ed

Examples:

I went (go) to Tegucigalpa yesterday.

I did not go to Tegucigalpa yesterday.

Did you go to Tegucigalpa yesterday? Yes, I did. No, I did not.

She cook/ed dinner last night.

She did not (didn’t) cook dinner last night.

Did she cook dinner last night? Yes, she did. No, she did not.

They flew (fly) to London last month.

They didn’t fly to London last month.

Did they fly to London last….? Yes, they did. No, they did not.

Workclass: Write the simple past form of the following verbs.

eat drive buy go swim

see understand do drink bite
get up fly hear break hurt
catch read forget bring have
think say take ring leave
write dance sing study smile
eat: ate drive: drove buy: bought go: went swim: swam
see: saw do: did drink: drank bite: bit get up: got up
fly: flew hear: heard break: broke hurt: hurt catch: caught
read: read forget: forgot bring: brought have: had think: thought
say: said take: took ring: rang leave: left write: wrote
sing: sang study: studied smile: smiled dance: danced
understand: understood

Exercises:

Rewrite the following sentences according to the sign.

1. Write – wrote I wrote a book last year. (-)

2. Dance – danced She danced ballet in the auditorium. (-)

3. Swim – swam They swam in the ocean last Saturday. (?)

4. Understand – understood He didn’t understand it. (+)

5. Sing – sang Did they sing a song? (-)

6. Study – studied You didn’t study for the test. (?)

7. Go – went Nancy went to Vancouver yesterday. (-)

8. Smile – smiled We smiled at her. (-)

9. Play – played They played golf last weekend. (?)

10. Drive – drove She didn’t drive fast her car. (+)

Teacher displays written exercises:

 simple past exercises 1
  simple past exercises 2
 simple past exercises 3

Past Continuous – Past Progressive

 It’s used to describe past actions that were taking place or happening at the
time of speaking or talking.
 Past form of 'to be' (was / were) + verb(ing)
 ing = ando / endo

Examples:

Eat: At that time, she was eating lunch at home.

Cook: I was cooking breakfast while the kids were playing.

Drive: Fernand was driving his car when something happened.

Sleep: The cat was sleeping on the sofa yesterday.

Look: We were looking for a nice place to spend the night.

Work: You were working in the factory.

Examples:
(+) I was talking on the phone last night.
(-) I was not / wasn’t talking on the phone last night.
(?) Were you talking on the phone last night? Yes, I was. / No, I was not
(+) He was listening to music in that moment.
(-) He was not / wasn’t listening to music in that moment.
(?) Was he listening to music in that moment? Yes, He was. / No, he was not

(+) They were checking the test results.

(-) They were not / weren’t checking the test results.
(?) Were they checking the test results? Yes, they were. / No, they were not
 Simple Past - Past Continuous Review

Simple Past:
 It shows that an action was in the past, not in the present.
 Completed actions, habits or facts in the past.
 Regular and irregular verbs use.

Examples:

(+) My parents call/ed me yesterday.

(-) My parents did not call me yesterday. My parents didn’t call me yesterday.
(?) Did they call me yesterday? Yes, they did. / No, they did not.

(+) Sam play/ed basketball when he was at university.

(-) He did not play basketball…… He didn’t play……
(?) Did he play basketball….? Yes, he did. / No, he did not.

Past continuous:
 Helps us to explain or describe actions that were taking place at the time you
were speaking in the past.
 We make/ form the past continuous with was / were and the -ing form of
the verb.

Example:

(+) She was working in a hotel.

(-) She was not working…... She wasn’t working…
(?) Was she working….? Yes, she was. / No, she was not

(+) We were living in my hometown.

(-) We were not living in my …. We weren’t living….
(?) Were we living in our hometown? Yes, we were. / No, we were not.

Teacher displays a written exercise: Past continuous exercise 4

 Time connectors
While (mientras) - When (cuando)
Using time connectors with the past continuous and the simple past help us to show /
understand how two past actions or situations were connected in the past at the same
time.

o I was sleeping when the teacher finished the lesson.

o when the teacher finished the lesson, I was sleeping.


o He snored while she was watching a movie.

o while she was watching a movie, He snored.


o While I was studying, I suddenly felt (fall) sleepy.

o I suddenly felt (fall) sleepy while I was studying.

o While I was going to work, I saw (see) an old friend.

o I saw (see) an old friend while I was going to work

o I was skiing when I broke (break) my leg.

o when I broke my leg, I was skiing.

o We were watching television when the power went (go) off.

o when the power went (go) off, we were watching t….

Teacher displays written exercises

 https://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/past-simple-past-continuous-
exercise-1.html

 Simple past – past continuous exercise 1

 Simple past – past continuous exercise 2

  past-simple-vs-past-continuous-worksheet-1

Exercise:

Simple past or Past Continuous

1. We __________a chat while we ____________ for our flights. (have,wait)

2. Jerry _________________ for me when I _______________ . (wait, arrive)

3. How fast __________ when the accident _____________ ? (you drive, happen)

4. John ______________ a photo of me while I _____________ at him. (take, not look)

11. When I last ____________ him, he _____________ to find a job in Leeds (see, try)

14. While Mike ____________ TV, Sheila ____________ off from the stairs. (watch, fall)

Past continuous 2 Exercise

15. She ____________ for the bus when I _____________ her yesterday. (wait, see)

17. He ______________ lunch when the first guests ______________ . (prepare, arrive)

18. She _____________ when she suddenly _________________ a strange noise. (sleep,hear)

19. We ___________ on the lake when a terrible thunderstorm ________ up. (sail, come)

20. While his friend ____________ the car, John ___________ about his holidays. (drive, talk)

22. John ____________ a shower when the telephone _________________ . (have, ring)
23. When they _____________ at the airport, the plane ______________________ high above their
heads. (arrive, already fly)

24. When they _____________ to the restaurant the other ones____________ cup of coffee. (go, have)

25. While the football teams _________________ up, the fans _________________ their flags. (warm,
wave)

Exercises:

1. It ___________ (rain) when we ___________ (come) out of the shopping centre.

2. I ______________________ (be) ill last week.

4. He ______________________ (break)his leg while he ______________________ (ski) .

7. we ______________________ (see) the spaceship while we ___________________(stop) the car.

8. He _______________ (sit) in the garden when a wasp _______________(sting) him in the nose.

11. She _________________ (have) a beautiful dream when the alarm clock ___________(ring).

13. We ________ (drive) home in the middle of the night when we ______________(see) a flashing light.

14. __________________ (you buy) that bag while I __________________ (look) after the children?

20. It _________________ (be) cold when we _________________ (leave) the house that day.