The Simple Past Tense

Simple present tense with “be” in past or also know as “verb to be”:

change: AM / ARE / IS for WAS or WERE

Pronoun + verb to be + complement

Positive form in past

I was

Example:
You

were I was a doctor.

She was angry.
He They were hungry.
She was
It

We
You were
They

Add to the verb to be a “not

Negative form
Pronoun + verb to be + complement
negative past
I was not / I wasn't
You were not / weren't
Example:
She was not / wasn't
I was not a doctor / I wasn't a doctor
We were not/ weren't You were not hungry. / You weren't hungry.
 Past simple tense with other verbs

Pronoun + verb past + complement

regular/ irregular
Use a pronoun and verbs in their past form, be careful if it is a regular
or irregular ver and make the past simple in the same way.

Positive form Negative form

I read a book. For the negative form, you need to use

the past of 'do not' (don't) or ' does not'

You watched a serie.
(doesn't) that is did not or didn't.
He cooked dinner.

She played tennis.

when we use the negative form, the verb

They slept well. we use is in infinitive.

I didn't buy a book.

You didn't played a game.

He didn't prepare dinner.

She didn't watch a tennis game.

They didn't drive well.

 Write 'did' before the subject, and the
Yes/ No Questions.
infinitive after it.

DID + Pronoun + verb + complement

Positive form Negative form

Did I walk? Didn't I walk?

Did you play? Didn't you play?

Did he cook? Didn't he cook?

Did it rain? Did not it rain?

WH Questions wh Q. + did + Pronoun + verb +

complement

Where Example:
What Where did I sleep?

Why What did he read?

Who Why did it sound?

When Who did you talk to?

How How did they drive?

 Past Continuous Tense
were plusverbs with -ing.

verb to be, was or
With the past continuous, we use past form using the

This is an action that hasn't finish yet but was

interrupted by another one and stop at a certain point.

Pronoun + past to be + verb -ing + complement

Positive form Negative form

I was reading a magazine. I was not reading a magazine.

You were watching Tv. You weren't watching Tv.
He was eating dinner. He wasn't eating dinner.

Grammar rules

Check the grammar rules for -ing at the present tense lecture.
 Yes/ No Questions.

Questions are easy. Just like we made the question with 'be' in the past simple, we
also put was or were before the subject to make a 'yes / no' question:

past to be + Pronoun + verb -ing + complement

Example:
Was I eating cake? Yes, you were.
Were you dancing yesterday? No, I wasn't.
Was she running a race? Yes, she was.

WH Questions wh Q. + past to be + verb -ing + Pronoun +

complement

Where Example:
What Where was I running?
Why What was she playing?
Who Why was it barking?
When Who were you talking to?
How How were they meeting?
 Past Perfect Tense

have or has
With the past perfect tense we use the past of that is had
plus the verb in its past participle form, regular or irregular form.

This is for actions or situations that happened before another one. Both

ended in the past.

Pronoun + had + verb in past + complement

participle

Positive form Negative form

I had bought a book. I had not bought a book.

You had watched the TV. You had not watched the TV.

He had cooked lunch. He had not cooked lunch.

She had played tennis. She had not played tennis.

They had slept well. They had not slept well.

Contraction form: Contraction form:

You'd watched TV. You hadn't watched TV.

She'd walked home. She hadn't walked home.

Questions
yes/no Q.: wh Q.
had + Pronoun + verb p.p Wh Q. + had + Pronoun
+ complement + verb p.p + complement
Example:
Example:

Where had I slept?

Had I missed the bus?

What had he read?

Had he worked hard?

Why had it ran?

Had they studied math?

Who had you talked to?

How had they drove?

 Past Perfect Continuous Tense

With the past perfect continuous, we write the past form using the past

perfect of be (had been) plus verbs with -ing.

This is for actions that started in the past and continued for a certain

time but finished also in the past.

Pronoun + had been + verb -ing + complement

Positive form Negative form

I had been reading a book. I had not been reading a book.

You had been watching a serie. You had not been watching a

He had been cooking dinner. serie.

She had been playing tennis. He had not been cooking dinner.

They had been sleeping well. She had not been playing tennis.

They had not been sleeping well.

Contraction form:

You'd been watching TV. Contraction form:

She'd been walking home. You hadn't been watching TV.

She hadn't been walking home.

Questions
yes/no Q.: wh Q.
had + Pronoun + been Wh Q. + had + Pronoun
+ verb -ing + complement +been + verb -ing + complement
Example:
Example:

Where had I been running?

Had I been reading?

What had he been reading?

Had he been working?

Why had it been barking?

Had they been studying?

Who had you been talking?

How had they been driving?