To be: Past Simple (Lesson)

Course Description

This lesson focuses on the verb "to be" in the Past Simple tense. You will learn how to form positive and negative sentences, use short forms in everyday English, and apply "to be" to talk about past events, identity, and location.

Learning Outcomes

Understand how to use the verb "to be" in the Past Simple tense.
Recognize the full and short forms of "was" and "were" (positive and negative).
Use "to be" to describe past identity, locations, and situations.
Apply the correct forms in speech and writing.

Examples

Let's look at some examples of the verb "to be" in Past Simple:

Yesterday was Sunday. It was very cold.

I was in bed all day. My sister was at school.

My shoes weren’t new. They were old.

We form the Past Simple of "to be" like this:

Full Form - Positive

I was

You were

He/she/it was

We were

You were

They were

Full Form - Negative

I was not

You were not

He/she/it was not

We were not

You were not

They were not

Short Form - Negative

I wasn’t

You weren’t

He/she/it wasn’t

We weren’t

You weren’t

They weren’t

We use "to be" in the past:

to talk about time and weather:

It was rainy last night.

It was 7 o’clock in the morning.

to talk about locations:

I was at home.

They were in the classroom.

to describe past situations:

She was tired.

We were happy to see you.

Practice

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