(Ser / Estar)

AFFIRMATIVE NEGATIVE INTERROGATIVE Ex.:

I was I was not / wasn’t Was I...? Where were you born?
You were You were not / weren’t Were you...? I was born in England.
He, She, It was He, She, It was not / wasn’t Was he, she, it...? Were you born in London?
We were We were not / weren’t Were we...? No, I wasn´t. I was born in
You were You were not / weren’t Were you...? Liverpool.
They were They were not / weren’t Were they...?

AFFIRMATIVE
 REGULAR VERBS
General Rule: Verb + -ed
E.g.: Work Worked
BUT:
 If the verb ends in e, we just add d to the verb.
E.g.: Live  Lived
 If the verb ends in consonant + y, we remove the y and add ied.
E.g.: Study  Studied
 If the verb ends in volwel + y, we don’t remove the y and add ed.
E.g.: Play  Played
 If the verbs have one syllable and end in consonant + volwel + consonant, we
double the last consonant and add ed to the verb.
E.g.: Stop  Stopped
 If the verbs have more than one syllable, we double the consonant at the end, only if
the final syllable is stressed
E.g.: preFER  preferred reGRET  regretted perMIT  permitted
 If the final syllable is NOT stressed, we do not double the final consonant.
E.g.: VISit  visited deVELop  developed HAPpen  happened
 In British English, verb ending in l, have – ll before -ed.
E.g.: Travel  Travelled Cancel Cancelled
American English: Travel  Traveled Cancel Canceled
 We do not double Y or W at the end of the words (at the end of words Y and W are not
consonants) E.g.: Stay  Stayed

 IRREGULAR VERBS
The past simple does not end in –ed
E.g.: Be Was / Were Have Had Write Wrote
Study the list of irregular verbs

NEGATIVE
In the negative we use the following rule:
Subject + DIDN’T + the main verb in the Infinitive without to.
E.g.: She didn’t study.
Attention:
 To Be - E.g.: She Wasn’t / They Weren’t
 To Do (as the main verb) – E.g.: We didn’t do our homework
INTERROGATIVE
In the Interrogative we use the following rule:
(Question-word) + Auxiliary verb DID + Subject + the main verb in the Infinitive without to
E.g.: What did they buy? They bought a new car
Did they buy a BMW? Yes, they did // No, they didn’t
Answer
Attention:  To Be - E.g.: Where was she? / Where were they?
 To Do (as the main verb) – E.g.: What did you do last weekend?

EXERCISES
A – Complete the following text by using the verbs in brackets in the SIMPLE PAST.
Arnold Schwarznegger _______________ (be) born in Austria on 30th July, 1947. His father
_______________ (not be) a politician, he was a policeman. During his youth, Arnold
_______________ (like) body-building.
When he was 20 years old he _______________ (go) to the USA. He became a famous
actor and _______________ (make) about 20 films. He _______________ (take) a Master's
degree at the University of Wisconsin and _______________ (marry)Maria Schriver. Then they
_______________ (have) two children.
He_______________(not stop)working. He _______________ (write) four best-sellers. He
_______________(produce) a video cassette on body-building and _______________ (buy) a chain
of restaurants with Bruce Willis and Sylvester Stallone - The Planet Hollywood.
B – Answer the following questions on the text:
1- Where was Arnold Schwarznegger born?
___________________________________________________
2- Was his father a policeman?
___________________________________________________
3- How old was he when he went to the USA?
___________________________________________________
4- How many films did he make?
___________________________________________________
5- Did he take a Master's degree?
___________________________________________________
C –Ask questions for the following answers.
1- _______________________________________________?
He was born on 30th July, 1947.
2- _______________________________________________?
Yes, he did. He liked body-building.
3- _______________________________________________?
He went to the USA.
4- _______________________________________________?
The name of his wife was Maria Schriver.
5- _______________________________________________?
No, he didn't. He didn't produce a video cassette on healthy eating.
6- _______________________________________________?
Yes, he was. He was very famous.
D – Write these sentences in the NEGATIVE form.
1- Arnold was a famous actor.
___________________________________________________
2- He lived in the USA.
___________________________________________________
3- He ate healthy food.
___________________________________________________
4- He had a wife. Your Teacher,
__________________________________________________ Elisabete Ferradini