VERB TO BE – PAST TENSE

AFFIRMATIVE NEGATIVE INTERROGATIVE

SUBJECT VERB SUBJECT VERB VERB SUBJECT
PRONOUNS TO BE 1) PRONOUNS TO BE + NOT TO BE PRONOUNS
I was Co I was not Was I?
You were mp You were not Were you ?
He was lete He was not Was he ?
She was the She was not Was she ?
It was sen It was not Was it ?
We were ten We were not Were we ?
You were ces You were not Were you ?
They were usi They were not Were they ?
ng
verb to be in the past.

a) He _______ a bad taxi driver. d) They ______ rich.

b) _____ you a secretary? e) I _____ not a singer.
c) _____ she a good actress?

2) Change the sentences to negative.

a) It was a fat dog. _________________________________________________________________

b) We were happy dentists. __________________________________________________________

c) You were a young engineer. _______________________________________________________

d) I was an old dancer. ______________________________________________________________

e) He was a tall reporter. _____________________________________________________________

3) Change the sentences to interrogative.

a) He was a short waiter. ____________________________________________________________

b) They were ugly mechanics. ________________________________________________________

c) I was a beautiful teacher. __________________________________________________________

d) You were an intelligent student. _____________________________________________________

e) She was a poor maid. _____________________________________________________________

4) Change the sentences to affirmative.

a) Was I a dentist ? _________________________________________________________________

b) Were you a housewife? ____________________________________________________________

c) Was he a soccer player? ___________________________________________________________

d) She was not a police officer. ________________________________________________________

e) They were not actors. _____________________________________________________________

-01-
 Verb To Be - Contract Form
Lucas was not an electrician. => Lucas wasn`t an electrician.

Lucy and Pedro were not friends. => Lucy and Pedro weren`t friends.

1) Rewrite the sentences using the contract form.

a) I was not beautiful. _______________________________________________________________

b) You were not ugly. _______________________________________________________________

c) He was not thin. _________________________________________________________________

d) She was not fat. ________________________________________________________________

e) They were not happy. _____________________________________________________________

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SUBJECT PRONOUNS
Subject Pronouns substitute the nouns. We use Subject Pronouns before main verbs.

Names Subject Pronouns Note:

You and I = We
Pedro He The dogs = They
Maria She
The dog It
Eg: Amy Winehouse was a singer.
She was a singer.
Maria and I We
You and Pedro You
Laurel and Hardy were actors.
Pedro and Maria They
They were actors.
Exercise

1) Replace using he, she, it, we, you or they.

a) Lucas and Tony were waiters. _____________________________________________________

b) Laura was a secretary. ___________________________________________________________

c) You and Laura were friends. ______________________________________________________

d) Mark was a soccer player. ________________________________________________________

e) My car was gray. ________________________________________________________________

f) My cars were gray. _______________________________________________________________

g) Vick and I were teachers. _________________________________________________________

-02-
 WH-QUESTIONS
(Information Questions)
Who – identifies people, names.

Eg: - Who was she?

- She was Marilyn Monroe.

---------------------------------------------
What – identifies professions, jobs.

Eg: - What was she?

- She was an actress.
---------------------------------------------

What + to be + like – identifies description.

Eg: - What was she like?

- She was tall, thin and blond.
___________________________________________________________________________

Where – identifies places.

Eg: - Where were they?

- They were at the park.

_____________________________________________________________________________

How – identifies state.

Eg: - How was she?

- She was sad.

_______________________________________________________________________________

How old – identifies ages.

Eg: - How old was he?

- He was three years old.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yes/No-Questions
(If Questions)
Compare:
Information Questions If Questions

- Who was she? - Was she Maria?

- She was Maria. - Yes, she was. or No, she wasn`t.

• We use information questions when we
don´t have the information (Maria) and we
want to know it.
• We use if questions when we have the information
(Maria) and we just want to confirm it.
• In this case, with positive answers use Yes and with
negative answers use No.

-03-
Note:

Information Questions => Long Answers If Questions => Short Answers

Eg: Where were they? They were at the bank. Eg: Were they at the bank? Yes, they were.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Exercises
1) Answer correctly:
Laurel and Hardy – Hebe Camargo – John Lennon

Was he Freddie Mercury? ___________________________

a)
Who was he? _____________________________________

Were they James Dean and Gene Kelly? ___________________

b)
Who were they? ______________________________________

c)

Was she Nair Bello? __________________________________

Who was she? ________________________________________

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1) Story:
Alice

She was Alice. She was an engineer. Yesterday, she

was in New York. She was twenty-seven years old. Alice
wasn`t rich, but she was happy. She was my best friend.

2) Story Questions:

a) Who was she? ___________________________________________________________________

b) What was she? __________________________________________________________________
c) Where was she? _________________________________________________________________
d) How old was she? ________________________________________________________________
e) Was she rich? ___________________________________________________________________
f) How was she? ___________________________________________________________________
g) Was she your best friend? __________________________________________________________

-04-
 SIMPLE PAST – REGULAR VERBS
General Rule – Add “ed” at the end of the verb.

Eg: work – worked

watch – watched

Verbs ending in “y” preceded by a consonant.

Drop off “y” and add “ied”.

Eg: study - studied

cry - cried

Verbs ending in “y” preceded by a vowel.

Just add “ed”.

Eg: play - played

enjoy - enjoyed

Verbs ending in “C-V-C” (consonant – vowel – consonant).

Repeat the last letter and add “ed”.

Eg: stop - stopped

Plan - planned

Formation:

Affirmative Form:

Subject Pronoun + Main verb

I cooked.
He studied.
It stopped.

Interrogative Form:

Did + Subject Pronoun + Main verb + ? Note:

Did I cook ?  In interrogatives and negatives

Did he study ? we use the auxiliary DID and
Did it stop ? the verb comes to its primitive
form.
Negative Form:
 Did not = Didn`t
Subject Pronoun + Did + Not + Main verb

I did not cook.

He did not study.
It did not stop.

-05-
 REGULAR VERBS
To cry Chorar
To dance Dançar
To enjoy Gostar, divertir-se
To hate Odiar
To listen Ouvir
To love Amar
To plan Planejar
To play Brincar, jogar, tocar
To stop Parar
To study Estudar
To talk Falar
To try Tentar
To visit Visitar
To walk Andar, caminhar
To watch Assistir
To wash Lavar
To work Trabalhar
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Exercises
1) Change to negative and interrogative:

a) He visited Japan last year.

Neg. ____________________________________________________________________________

Inter. ____________________________________________________________________________

b) They enjoyed the party yesterday.

Neg. ____________________________________________________________________________

Inter. ____________________________________________________________________________

c) I studied Science last semester.

Neg. ____________________________________________________________________________

Inter. ____________________________________________________________________________

d) You planned a trip to Recife. _____________________________________________________

Neg. ____________________________________________________________________________

Inter. ____________________________________________________________________________

3) Change the sentences from present to past.

a) I walk in the park. _____________________________________________________________

b) You watch TV. ________________________________________________________________

c) He dances ballet. ______________________________________________________________

d) She cries every day. ____________________________________________________________

-06-
 IRREGULAR VERBS
Some verbs are irregular (not regular). The simple past is not “ed”.

Eg: take – took / make - made

Infinitive Simple Past Translation

To be was / were ser / estar
To become became tornar-se
To buy bought comprar
To bring brought trazer
To break broke quebrar
To build built construir
To come came vir
To do did fazer
To draw drew desenhar
To drink drank beber
To drive drove dirigir
To eat ate comer
To fall fell cair
To feel felt sentir
To find found encontrar
To give gave dar
To go went ir
To have had ter
To know knew saber
To lose lost perder
To make made fazer
To meet met encontrar
To read read ler
To run ran correr
To see saw ver
To sell sold vender
To sing sang cantar
To sleep slept dormir
To speak spoke falar
To take took levar, pegar
To swim swam nadar
To win won ganhar
To write wrote escrever
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Exercisies

1) Write the past tense of the verbs below:

a) find - ___________________ f) go - _____________________

b) do - _____________________ g) bring - ___________________

c) swim - ___________________ h) break - ___________________

d) take - ____________________ i) drink - ___________________

e) know - ___________________ j) lose - _____________________

-07-
2) Change to negative and interrogative.

a) I made lemonade yesterday.

Neg. __________________________________________________________________________

Inter. _________________________________________________________________________

b) You won the game last week.

Neg. __________________________________________________________________________

Inter. _________________________________________________________________________

c) He had a dog three years ago.

Neg. __________________________________________________________________________

Inter. _________________________________________________________________________

d) She drove a bus last night.

Neg. __________________________________________________________________________

Inter. _________________________________________________________________________

e) It ran in the street yesterday morning.

Neg. __________________________________________________________________________

Inter. _________________________________________________________________________

f) We bought a new car last year.

Neg. __________________________________________________________________________

Inter. _________________________________________________________________________

3) Change to affirmative:

a) You didn`t come to Rio yesterday. ________________________________________________

b) She didn`t draw a picture last class. ________________________________________________

c) He didn`t give flowers to me. _____________________________________________________

d) Did they sell this house? ________________________________________________________

e) Did we sing well? ______________________________________________________________

f) Did you see that film? __________________________________________________________

g) I didn`t buy you a dress. _________________________________________________________

h) Did she meet Bob at the zoo? ____________________________________________________

-08-
4) Story:

On a farm

Hi! My name is George. Last weekend, I went to a wonderful farm in Minas with my family. We
left our house at 6:15 a.m. My mother drove her car and we listened to country music and talked about
lots of things during the trip. We arrived there at 9:30 a.m. We swam in the lake, played soccer and ate
fruit from the trees. In the afternoon, my little sister and I rode a horse. My father slept in the porch and
my mother read some magazines. We stayed there for two days. The weather was sunny and warm. My
family and I enjoyed the weekend very much.

5) Story Questions

a) What`s your name? _______________________________________________________________

b) Where did you go last weekend? ____________________________________________________

c) When did you leave your house? ____________________________________________________

d) What did your mother drive? _______________________________________________________

e) What did you do during the trip? ____________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

f) When did you arrive there? _________________________________________________________

g) What did you do there? ____________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

h) What did you and your sister do in the afternoon? _______________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

i) Where did your father sleep? ________________________________________________________

j) What did your mother read? ________________________________________________________

k) How long did you stay there? _______________________________________________________

l) What was the weather like? _________________________________________________________

m) Did you enjoy the weekend very much? ______________________________________________

-09-
 LET`S READ!!! Review
WEATHER

Sunny Cloudy Windy Rainy Snowy

Expressions of Time

1) Story:

Lucy was in Guarapari last week.

The weather was hot and sunny.
She was happy.

2) Story Questions:

a) Who was she? ________________________________________________________________

b) Where was she last week? _______________________________________________________
c) What was the weather like? _______________________________________________________
d) How was she? __________________________________________________________________

3) Story:

Tony and Mary were in Angra yesterday.

The weather was cold and rainy.
They were sad.

4) Story Questions:

a) Who were they? ________________________________________________________________

b) Where were they yesterday? _______________________________________________________
c) What was the weather like? _______________________________________________________
d) How were they? _________________________________________________________________

Note:

• We use expressions of time such as yesterday, last week, last month, last year, in 1995, etc, to talk about
the past.

-10-
5) Story:

Pedro

He was my best friend Pedro. He wasn`t a doctor. He

was an architect. He was at work last week. He was thirty-
one. He was tall, thin, handsome and very intelligent. He
was fine.

6) Story Questions:

a) Who was Pedro? _________________________________________________________________

b) Was he a doctor? _________________________________________________________________

c) What was he? ___________________________________________________________________

d) Where was he last week? __________________________________________________________

e) How old was he? _________________________________________________________________

f) What was he like? ________________________________________________________________

g) How was he? ____________________________________________________________________

7) Complete the sentences using the past tense of verb to be (was / were).

a) Maria _____________ a housewife.

b) Tina and Betty _____________ maids.

c) __________ you and Bob singers?

d) __________ I a waitress?

e) Lia and I _____________ engineers.

f) The weather __________ not rainy.

maid waitress

8) Put the words in order and find out the sentence.

Eg: in / I / Paris / was / yesterday - I was in Paris yesterday.

. . .

a) last / you / not / were / the / at / zoo / Sunday - _______________________________________

b) weekend / the / was / weather / sunny / last - ________________________________________

c) London / ? / Mary and Jane / last / were / year / in - ___________________________________

d) last / not / I / sad / was / night - ___________________________________________________

-11-
9) Change the sentences from present to past.

a) She is a good teacher. ___________________________________________________________

b) They are dancers. ______________________________________________________________

c) I am a happy secretary. _________________________________________________________

d) We are old friends. _____________________________________________________________

e) You are a taxi driver. ___________________________________________________________

f) He is a poor doctor. ____________________________________________________________

10) What was the weather like?

Eg: . It was sunny. .

a) _____________________________________________________________

b) _____________________________________________________________

c) _____________________________________________________________

d) _____________________________________________________________

11) Give short answers:

a) Was Joe a dentist? Yes, _____________________________.

b) Was he a teacher? No, ______________________________.

c) Were Mario and Leo reporters? Yes, __________________.

d) Were they mechanics? No, __________________________.

e) Was I a good person? Yes, _________________________.

f) Was I a secretary? No, ____________________________.

g) Was Ana a housewife? Yes, __________________________.

h) Was she a maid? No, ________________________________.

i) Were you a teacher? Yes, ____________________________.

-12-
j) Were you a student? No, _____________________________.

k) Was the house beautiful? Yes, __________________________.

l) Was it big? No, ______________________________________.

12) Change to negative and interrogative:

a) Katy was an excellent engineer.

Neg. __________________________________________________________________________

Inter. __________________________________________________________________________

b) Leo and Paul were good teachers.

Neg. __________________________________________________________________________

Inter. __________________________________________________________________________

13) Number:

( 1 ) yesterday ( ) ano passado

( 2 ) last weekend ( ) sábado passado

( 3 ) last week ( ) fim de semana passado

( 4 ) last month ( ) ontem

( 5 ) last year ( ) verão passado

( 6 ) last night ( ) semana passada

( 7 ) last summer ( ) noite passada

( 8 ) last Saturday ( ) mês passado

14) Write the past tense of the verbs below:

a) walk - _______________ e) cry - ___________________

b) enjoy - _______________ f) plan - __________________

c) visit - ________________ g) wash - __________________

d) stop - ________________ h) study - ___________________

ENJOY CRY

-13-
15) Change to negative and interrogative.

a) I listened to music last night.

Neg. __________________________________________________________________________

Inter. _________________________________________________________________________

b) You cooked yesterday.

Neg. __________________________________________________________________________

Inter. _________________________________________________________________________

c) He talked to me last weekend.

Neg. __________________________________________________________________________

Inter. _________________________________________________________________________

d) She worked last Saturday.

Neg. __________________________________________________________________________

Inter. _________________________________________________________________________

e) It stopped destroying the sofa.

Neg. __________________________________________________________________________

Inter. _________________________________________________________________________

f) We loved romantic books.

Neg. __________________________________________________________________________

Inter. _________________________________________________________________________

g) You hated horror films.

Neg. __________________________________________________________________________

Inter. _________________________________________________________________________

h) They studied Math last class.

Neg. __________________________________________________________________________

Inter. _________________________________________________________________________

-14-
16) Change the sentences from present to past.

a) I buy a hamburger. _____________________________________________________________

b) You drive fast. ________________________________________________________________

c) He drinks orange juice. _________________________________________________________

d) She goes to Florida. ____________________________________________________________

e) It eats meat. __________________________________________________________________

f) We do the homework. ___________________________________________________________

g) You have two dogs. ____________________________________________________________

h) They make pizza. ______________________________________________________________

17) Follow the example:

Eg: He didn`t give her chocolate. (flowers)

He gave her flowers. .

a) I didn`t bring him the newspaper. (the magazines)

_____________________________________________________________________________

b) You didn`t break the door. (the window)

______________________________________________________________________________

c) He didn`t lose his wallet. (his money)

______________________________________________________________________________

d) She didn`t meet Taylor. (Robert)

_______________________________________________________________________________

e) It didn`t drink coffee. (milk)

______________________________________________________________________________

DRINK MILK

- 15-
18) Change to negative and interrogative:

a) They swam in the ocean.

Neg. __________________________________________________________________________

Inter. _________________________________________________________________________

b) I talked to the teacher.

Neg. __________________________________________________________________________

Inter. _________________________________________________________________________

c) She cried last night.

Neg. __________________________________________________________________________

Inter. _________________________________________________________________________

d) We ran three kilometers.

Neg. __________________________________________________________________________

Inter. _________________________________________________________________________

e) You knew the secret.

Neg. __________________________________________________________________________

Inter. _________________________________________________________________________

f) He did the exercise.

Neg. __________________________________________________________________________

Inter. _________________________________________________________________________

g) I stopped at the beach.

Neg. __________________________________________________________________________

Inter. _________________________________________________________________________

h) They played basketball.

Neg. __________________________________________________________________________

Inter. _________________________________________________________________________

i) She had a big house.

Neg. __________________________________________________________________________

Inter. _________________________________________________________________________

- 16-
19) Put the words in order and find out the sentence.

Eg: did / week / she / not / last / cook - . She did not cook last week. .

a) yesterday / they / ? / sing / did - ___________________________________________________

b) Lucy / drive / not / bus / did / a - __________________________________________________

c) bought / new / Tony / car / a - ____________________________________________________

d) gave / ball / you / me / red / a/ to - _________________________________________________

e) hot dog / eat / ? / she / a / did - ___________________________________________________

20) Complete the sentences using the past tense of verb to be (was / were).

a) __________Lia and I artists?

b) Luna ___________ a dancer.

c) You __________ an actor.

d) _________ I a housewife?

e) Bia and Betty ___________ friends.

f) Robin ___________ not a cleaner. A CLEANER

g) It _________ rainy yesterday.

21) Write the past tense of the verbs below:

a) talk - ____________________ k) swim - ____________________

b) make - __________________ l) watch - ____________________

c) try - ____________________ m) run - ____________________

d) plan - ____________________ n) play - ____________________

e) give - ____________________ o) drive - ____________________

f) drink - ____________________ p) study - ____________________

g) work - ____________________ q) go - _______________________

h) do - _______________________ r) buy - ______________________

i) bring - ______________________ s) sell - _______________________

j) write - ______________________ t) eat - ________________________

22) Match:

( 1 ) snowy ( 2 ) sunny ( 3 ) windy ( 4 ) rainy ( 5 ) cloudy

( ) ( ) ( ) -17- ( ) ( )