Exercises V:

Past Tense of Verb “to be”

1. Choose the correct past tense answer for each question.

SCIENTIST

Charles Darwin

1) Charles Darwin [was / were] born on

February 12, 1809.

2) He [was / were] a British naturalist

who became famous for his theories of
evolution and natural selection.

3) In South America, Darwin found that

fossils of extinct animals [was / were]
similar to modern species.

4) Many people [was / were] strongly opposed to the idea of evolution

because it conflicted with their religious beliefs.

5) Throughout his life, Darwin [was / were] a reserved, thorough, hard working
scholar.
Albert Einstein

6) When Albert Einstein [was / were] young,

his parents worried about him.

7) Einstein's parents [was / were] concerned

that Albert was "slow."
8) Albert [was / were] a terrible student who
didn't want to attend classes regularly and
take exams.

9) Einstein's best-known work, the theory of

relativity, [was / were] published in 1905.

10) Unfortunately, the theory of relativity [was / were] used to create the
atomic bomb.

2. Correct the mistakes

a) The film were boring _______________________

b) We was not be there _______________________
c) I not was angry _______________________
d) Peter and Marta wan’t hungry _______________________

3. Ask questions with TO BE in past tense

a) (Your mother/ at home?) ____________________________
b) (the job/ interesting?) ______________________________
c) (Jose and Paul / at school?) __________________________
d) (your father / a doctor?) ______________________________
e) (Elephants/ in the zoo?) ______________________________