Grammar reference and practice 7.2

7.2 ■ Past simple: be and can

Past simple: be

Affirmative and negative
I He / She / It	was wasn't (= was not)		at home yesterday.
You We They	were weren't (= were not)
Questions and short answers
Was	I he / she / it	at home yesterday?	Yes, I was. No, he wasn't.
Were	you we they		Yes, you were. No, you weren't.

Form

• ■The past simple affirmative forms of be are was and were.

  ■The negative is formed by adding n't (= not).

  You / We / They were in London last night.

  You / We / They weren't in London last night.

  I / He / She / It was on the bus.

  I / He / She / It wasn't on the bus.

  ■The past simple question form of be is formed by changing the order of the subject and the verb.

  Were you / we / they in London last night?

  Was I / he / she / it on the bus?

Use

We use the past simple form of be to talk about situations in the past.

1Complete the sentences with was or were. 

• 1I waswere at Ted's house last night.

• 2They waswere very friendly.

• 3My sister and I waswere very busy last week.

• 4My parents waswere in Paris for their anniversary last weekend.

• 5She waswere happy, but her brothers waswere sad.

• 6A:WasWere you in the garden?

  B:Yes, I waswere.

• 7You waswere the most hardworking student in our class at primary school.

• 8They waswere at the supermarket.

2Rewrite the sentences using the past simple. 

You need to use normal letters and capital letters correctly in this task. You also need to use correct punctuation.

• 1I'm not hungry, but I am tired.

• 2She is at school.

• 3AAre you a student?

  BNo, I'm not. I'm a teacher!

• 4AIs your sister in her bedroom?

  BYes, she is.

• 5We aren't very rich, but we are happy.

• 6They are at the station.

 

7.2 ■ Past simple: be and can

Past simple: can

Affirmative and negative
I You He / She / It We They	could couldn't (= could not)		play the piano.
Questions and short answers
Could	I you he / she / it we they	speak English?	Yes, I could. No, we couldn't.

Form

• ■Could is used with an infinitive without to.

  ■The forms of could are the same for all persons.

Use

• ■We use could to describe ability in the past.

3Write sentences using could and couldn’t. 

You need to use normal letters and capital letters correctly in this task. You also need to use correct punctuation.

• 1Jane / ride a bike / when she was three. ✔

• 2My friends / hear / the music at the concert. ✘

• 3I / swim / when I was a child. ✘

• 4 you / play the violin / when you were younger? ?

• 5We / remember / the teacher's name. ✔

• 6they / climb / up the ladder? ?

4Rewrite sentences 1–3 in the negative and sentences 4–6 in the positive. 

You need to use normal letters and capital letters correctly in this task. You also need to use correct punctuation.

• 1They could find the car keys.

• 2Orla could speak two languages.

• 3I could play the trumpet.

• 4I couldn't swim when I was five.

• 5We couldn't understand English films.

• 6Maya couldn't visit her grandparents.

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