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ANUAL UNI
Past Simple I
The Verb To Be in Past Simple Tense: How To Use It, Examples, & Exercise

English grammar is tough, but using the past simple in English – for example, “I was home” or “Where
were you last night?” – is quite simple.

To say these sentences, you need to use the simple past tense of the irregular verb “to be.”

• I was home.
• Where were you last night?

Would you like to know how to use the past tense form of “to be” in English? Read on!

How to Form the Past Tense of the English Verb “to be”

The main difference between the past tense and the present tense is whether the action you are describing
occurred now or in the past. Here are some examples of using the verb “to be” in both the past and present
tense:

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Verb “to be” in past simple Verb “to be” in simple present

I was a huge fan. I am a huge fan.

You were going to college. You are going to college.

We were happier last year. We are happier this year.

They were at home. They are at home.

Now, to understand how to formulate the verb “to be “in past simple yourself, look at the table below:

The rules are as follows:

I, he, she, it – was
You, we, they – were

For first person singular and third person singular, use the word was. In all other cases, use were.
For example:
• She was a student.
• They were doctors.

Asking question with the verb “to be” in past

In order to ask a question, was/were needs to be at the beginning of the sentence:
• Was she a student?
• Were they doctors?

Using the negative form of “to be” in past simple

In negative sentences, add the adverb not and put it before the word was/were.

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Remember that most of the time the contraction (shortened form) is used in negative sentences: wasn’t =
was not/weren’t = were not.

• He wasn’t at the cinema with us.

• We weren’t at home on Sunday.
• I wasn’t hungry.

Past Continuous Tense

Today we’ll look at another verb form in English, the past continuous tense. You already know what the
present continuous tense is and how to use it. So past continuous is its “older brother.” In other words, it’s
the equivalent of the present continuous, except we use it to speak about the past.

The past continuous tense is used to speak about an action that occurred in the past and continued for a
certain period of time.

Unlike the past simple tense, the time of the action must be clearly stated or understandable from the
context; when the action began and ended may be unknown. It is the process itself – the act of its duration
– that is important.

First, let’s look at how to form the past continuous tense in English.

Forming the Past Continuous Tense

In order to form this verb tense, we need to use the verb to be in its past tense form. This is dependent on
the person (was for I, he, she, it; were for you, we, they), and then add – ing to the action verb. This is the
way to form a positive sentence.

For example:
• I was cooking at 5 o’clock yesterday.
• We were watching TV when Ann came.
• Bob was driving home when I phoned him.

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A negative sentence can be formed using the structure you are already familiar with: Put the adverb not
after was/were: was + not = wasn’t; were + not = weren’t.

For example:
• She wasn’t listening to me when I tried to warn her.
• My brothers weren’t playing games. They were doing their homework.
• I wasn’t working last Friday.

If you need to ask a question in the past continuous tense, use the following structure: was/were + subject
+ action verb + the rest of the sentence.

This structure is also used when asking special questions:

For example:
• Were you listening to the radio all the time?
• Was he carrying your bags all the way home?
• What were you doing last night?

When Past Continuous is Used

Now let’s look at when to use the past continuous tense.

To describe an action that was occurring at a certain time in the past.

For example:
• She was driving to work at 8:00 a. m.
• The elevator wasn’t working after 5:00 p. m.

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When one action interrupted another (ongoing action). Usually, the interrupting action is expressed by the
past simple.
• We were talking when she came in.
• Mark was washing the dishes when Ellen called.

When two actions in the past occurred at the same time. Often the word “while” is used to connect the
actions.
• He was watching TV while his wife was cooking dinner.
• Mary was standing still while Jim was jumping on one leg.

In informal speech, the word when is often used instead of while.

• Chris was reading the magazine when I was watching TV.

Finally, notice marking words that identify the verb tense as past continuous: at that moment, all day long,
during summer, while, when, all the time, the whole morning, at 6:00 o’clock yesterday and others.

Exercises

1. There ______ more than forty people at the 4. Where did you go on the weekend? Why ____
meeting. you at home?

A) were A) wasn’t
B) was B) were
C) wasn’t C) was
D) is D) did
E) isn’t E) weren’t

2. My friend and I ____ at the library yesterday 5. A: Where _____ Tom last night?
afternoon. B: He _____ at home.

A) wasn’t A) was / were

B) aren’t B) were / were
C) was C) was / was
D) were D) were / was
E) are E) did / was

3. A: How old ______ you last year? 6. Cathy is a police officer now, but she _____ a
B: I ______ twenty years old. pilot last year.

A) were / were A) was

B) were / was B) weren’t
C) was / were C) is
D) was / was D) were
E) did / was E) not

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7. I __________ TV when I heard the phone ring. 10. A: _____ you _____ the movie?
B: Yes, I was.
A) watched
B) watching A) Were / watch
C) was watching B) Were / watching
D) did watched C) Was / watch
E) am watching D) Was / watching
E) Are / watching
8. A: What were you doing?
B: We ____ dinner. 11. A: Why are you ______ yesterday?
B: I was _______ a funny book.
A) ate
B) eating A) laugh / read
C) are eating B) laughing / read
D) were eating C) laugh / reading
E) eat D) laughing / reading
E) doing / read
9. I ______ sleeping when my friend rang the
doorbell. 12. It ______ all day yesterday, so I stayed at home.

A) wasn’t A) raining
B) weren’t B) was raining
C) am C) rain
D) not D) rains
E) did E) is raining

01- A 03- B 05- C 07- C 09- A 11- D

6 02- D 04- E 06- A 08- D 10- B 12- B