How do we make the Past Simple Tense?
To make the past simple tense, we use:
- past form only
or - auxiliary did + base form
Here you can see examples of the past form and base form for irregular verbs and regular verbs:
V1 base | V2 past | V3 past participle | ||
regular verb | work explode like | worked exploded liked | worked exploded liked | The past form for all regular verbs ends in -ed. |
irregular verb | go see sing | went saw sang | gone seen sung | The past form for irregular verbs is variable. You need to learn it by heart. |
You do not need the past participle form to make the past simple tense. It is shown here for completeness only. |
The structure for positive sentences in the past simple tense is:
subject | + | main verb |
past |
The structure for negative sentences in the past simple tense is:
subject | + | auxiliary verb | + | not | + | main verb |
did | base |
The structure for question sentences in the past simple tense is:
auxiliary verb | + | subject | + | main verb |
did | base |
The auxiliary verb did is not conjugated. It is the same for all persons (I did, you did, he did etc). And the base form and past form do not change. Look at these examples with the main verbs go andwork:
subject | auxiliary verb | main verb | |||
+ | I | went | to school. | ||
You | worked | very hard. | |||
- | She | did | not | go | with me. |
We | did | not | work | yesterday. | |
? | Did | you | go | to London? | |
Did | they | work | at home? |
Exception! The verb to be is different. We conjugate the verb to be (I was, you were, he/she/it was, we were, they were); and we do not use an auxiliary for negative and question sentences. To make a question, we exchange the subject and verb. Look at these examples:
subject | main verb | |||
+ | I, he/she/it | was | here. | |
You, we, they | were | in London. | ||
- | I, he/she/it | was | not | there. |
You, we, they | were | not | happy. | |
? | Was | I, he/she/it | right? | |
Were | you, we, they | late? |
- She (travel) travelled by train to London.
- She (cut) cut the lettuce with a knife.
- The film (be) was boring.
- The president (speak) spoke very slow during the conference.
- Sarah (sing) sang perfectly in the concert.
- Peter (decide) decided to paint the house blue.
- My mother (have) had her birthday party last night.
- The lawyer (try) tried to convince the jury.
- My dog (bite) bit Ann in her leg.
- I (meet) met John at the old restaurant last week.
Pasado Del
Verbo To Be
El presente simple hace referencia al verbo to be en pasado, por lo
que todas las acciones que se presenten están en ese tiempo.
Sujeto
|
Verbo
|
objeto / complemento
|
Español
|
||
I
|
was
|
a student.
|
Era alumno.
|
||
You
|
were
|
happy.
|
Eras feliz.
|
||
He
|
was
|
a musician.
|
Fue músico.
|
||
She
|
was
|
in the car.
|
Estaba en el coche.
|
||
It
|
was
|
a hot day.
|
Era un día caluroso.
|
||
We
|
were
|
lucky.
|
Tuvimos suerte
|
||
You
|
were
|
from Madrid.
|
Eran (ustedes) de
Madrid.
|
||
They
|
were
|
ours.
|
Eran nuestros.
|
||
La estructura básica del negativo del verbo "to be" en pasado
|
Sujeto
|
Verbo
|
objeto / complemento
|
Español
|
|
I
|
was not
|
a student.
|
No era alumno.
|
|
You
|
were not
|
happy.
|
No eras feliz.
|
|
He
|
was not
|
a musician.
|
No era músico.
|
|
She
|
was not
|
in the car.
|
No estaba en el
coche.
|
|
It
|
was not
|
a hot day.
|
No era un día
caluroso.
|
|
We
|
were not
|
lucky.
|
No tuvimos suerte.
|
|
You
|
were not
|
from Madrid.
|
No (eran) de Madrid.
|
|
They
|
were not
|
ours.
|
No eran nuestros.
|
Nota: Forma
contraida: "was not" = "wasn't", "were not" =
"weren't".
La estructura básica del interrogativo del verbo "to be" en
pasado
|
Verbo
|
Sujeto
|
objeto / complemento
|
Español
|
|
Was
|
I
|
a student?
|
¿Era alumno?
|
|
Were
|
you
|
happy?
|
¿Eras feliz?
|
|
Was
|
he
|
a musician?
|
¿Era músico?
|
|
Was
|
she
|
in the car?
|
¿Estaba en el coche?
|
|
Was
|
it
|
a hot day?
|
¿Era un día
caluroso?
|
|
Were
|
we
|
lucky?
|
¿Tuvimos suerte?
|
|
Were
|
you
|
from Madrid?
|
¿Eran (ustedes) de
Madrid?
|
|
Were
|
they
|
ours?
|
¿Eran nuestros?
|
Nota: Para hacer una oración
interrogativa con el verbo "to be" en pasado simplemente se
intercambia el verbo "to be" con el sujeto.
La estructura básica de las respuestas cortas del verbo "to be" en
pasado
|
Af.
|
|
Neg.
|
|
|
Yes,
|
I was.
|
No,
|
I was not. (wasn't)
|
|
Yes,
|
you were.
|
No,
|
you were not. (weren't)
|
|
Yes,
|
he was.
|
No,
|
he was not. (wasn't)
|
|
Yes,
|
she was.
|
No,
|
she was not. (wasn't)
|
|
Yes,
|
it was.
|
No,
|
it was not. (wasn't)
|
|
Yes,
|
we were.
|
No,
|
we were not. (weren't)
|
|
Yes,
|
you were.
|
No,
|
you were not. (weren't)
|
|
Yes,
|
they were.
|
No,
|
they were not. (weren't)
|
Nota: No se contrae la forma afirmativa de las respuestas cortas.
EJERCICIOS PASADO
SIMPLE VERBO TO BE
Rellena los huecos con were/was-wasn't/weren't :
1- WAS she in the kitchen?
2-No,she wasn’t
_
3- were they in the sitting room?
4-No,they weren’t
5was Tom in the toilet?
6-Yes, he was
7-were you in the kitchen
8-Mary was eating in the kitchen
9-The children were cleaning the mirror
10-The women were painting
Traduce las siguientes frases:Vocabulario de los adjetivos
1-¿Era pequeña?
Was it small? ________________________________
2- Era joven
___was she young?________________
3- Éramos felices
___we were happy?________________
4- Era viejo
__he was old?____________________
5- ¿Ella era alta?
__was she tall?____________________
6- Eras fuerte
__you were strong?_______________
7-Eran bajos
__were they short_______________
8-Éramos guapos
__we were hot___________________
9-Estábamos en Sevilla
__we were in Sevilla_____________
10-Estaban en Burgos
__they were in Burgos______________