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Seminar Iii - Simple Past
Seminar Iii - Simple Past
A. Complete each sentence with the simple past form of the verb in parentheses. The first
five verbs are regular; the second five are irregular. (Acțiune desfășurată în trecut)
1. I (travel) around by car with two friends and we (visit) lots of interesting places.
B. Forming Negatives
To make a verb negative, add the auxiliary verb did, which is the simple past form of do,
and the word not before the main verb.
B1. Make each of the following sentences negative. (you can also use the contraction didn’t)
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First Year, Second Semester IESC 2019-2020
7. Britney Spears (to brake) the world record for the 100 meter sprint.
10. They (to hold) their heads high after all these unfortunate events.
Forming Contractions
The auxiliary verb did is often combined with not to form a contraction. Notice that an
apostrophe indicates that the letter o is omitted: did + not = didn’t
To form questions that can be answered yes or no (yes/no questions), begin the question with the
auxiliary verb did. After the auxiliary verb, place the subject and the main verb.
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First Year, Second Semester IESC 2019-2020
A. Complete each sentence with the simple past form of the verb be.
1. The test ____________ difficult. 6. We ____________ embarrassed.
5. The news ____________ good. 10. The house ____________ old and decrepit.
B. The word there is often used with the verb be to acknowledge the existence of someone or
something. The form of the verb is based on the subject that follows it.
Singular subject: There was a storm last night.
Plural subject: There were twelve people in the cast.
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First Year, Second Semester IESC 2019-2020
B1. Circle the verb that agrees in number with the subject that follows it.
1. There was/were a parade yesterday. 6. There was/were no more tickets left.
2. There was/were many celebrities at the rally. 7. There was/were a four-hour delay.
3. There was/were a lot of traffic. 8. There was/were an empty seat in the back
row.
4. There was/were pizza for everyone.
9. There was/were many tourists at this year’s
5. There was/were several buildings in need of repair. festival.
10. There was/were a nice breeze earlier this
morning.
C. Forming negatives
To make the verb be negative, just add not.
Was not (I + III- singular) Were not (II-singular + I, II, III- plural)
C1. Forming contractions: In conversation and informal writing you can use contractions.
Was not = wasn’t Were + not = weren’t
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First Year, Second Semester IESC 2019-2020
E. Forming Wh-Questions
1. In 1980, Jimmy Carter was the president of the United States.
Who ________________________________________________________________________?
2. The trip was long and arduous.
How ________________________________________________________________________?
3. His grandparents were from Brazil.
Where _______________________________________________________________________?
4. They were in the library.
Where_______________________________________________________________________?
5. The field trip was on Wednesday.
When _______________________________________________________________________?
6. The gym was open four hours on Sunday.
How long ____________________________________________________________________?
7. Many DVDs were on sale.
What items ___________________________________________________________________?
8. The traffic was bad.
How ________________________________________________________________________?