To be

Past Tense

I was
You were
He was
She was
It was
We were
You were
They were

Supply the correct form of the past tense of to be as in

the example.

1. Teresa _________ absent from work yesterday.

(Teresa was absent from work yesterday.)
2. He __________ in the same office as Wendy last
year.
3. They __________ good friends for many years.
4. The office door _________ open.
5. But both windows __________ closed.
6. Ned _________ not at work yesterday.
7. He and his sister _________ sick.
8. You __________ busy all day yesterday.
9. We _________ tired after our long walk.
10.I __________ hungry after so much exercise.
11.There __________ a lot of members absent from
the meeting yesterday.
12.Fred __________ present, but I __________
not.
 13.The weather yesterday ___________ very warm.
14.We ___________ pleased to receive your
memorandum.
15.You _________ not satisfied with my
memorandum.
16.The exercises in the last lesson _________easy.
17.We ___________ not able to get in touch with
Mr. Reese yesterday.
18.The wind last night __________very strong.

22
To Be
Past Tense Negatives and Questions.

Form the negative of the past tense of to be by placing

not after the verb. The contracted forms wasn’t and
weren’t are generally used.

I was not (I wasn’t)

You were not (you weren’t)
He was not (he wasn’t)
She was not (she wasn’t)
It was not (it wasn’t)
We were not (we weren’t)
You were not (you weren’t)
They were not (they weren’t)

Form questions in the past tense of to be by placing the

verb before the subject.

They were here yesterday.

Were they here yesterday?
A. Change the following sentences from affirmative to
negative. Use both the full from and the contracted
form.

1. You were tired last night.

(You were not tired last night. You weren’t tired
last night.)
2. These doors were closed.
3. The exercises were easy to do.
4. The man was a stranger to her.
5. It was a pleasant day.
6. The sea was very rough.
7. He was a tall man.
8. There were ten new words in the lesson.
9. Sarah was a good swimmer.
10. She was a good swimmer.
11. They were both Americans.
12. She was a good tennis player.
13. You were a happy child.
14. H was always angry.
15. They were friendly enemies.
16. Bert was an old friend of the family.

B. Change the sentences in Exercise A to questions.

1. You were tired last night.

(Were you tired last night?)
Past Tense
Regular Verbs

Form the past tense of regular verbs by adding ed to

their simple form.

I worked
You worked
He worked
She worked
It worked
We worked
You worked
They worked

Note these spellings:

Live-lived
Study-studied
Supply the past tense form of the verbs in parentheses.
1. We (work) in our garden all day yesterday.
(We worked in our garden all day yesterday.)
2. I (Listen) to the stereo until twelve o’clock last
night.
3. Meg and I (talk) on the telephone yesterday.
4. He always (want) to learn English.
5. They (live) in France for many years.
6. We (expect) to go to Europe in June.
7. The meeting (last) about two hours.
8. We change) planes in Seattle.
9. We both (like) the movies last night very much.
10. I (wait) almost two hours for Gertrude.
11. They (paint) their house white.
12. She arrive) late to the meeting.
13. We (watch) television until eleven o’clock last
night.
14. She (study) in our class last semester.
15. I (mail) your letter on my way to work.
16. We both (learn) how to swim many years ago.
17. Perry (marry) Barbara eight months ago.