Time Signals

yesterday in 2011

last week/ month/

When I was _____
year…

Two days/ a week/

suddenly
month ago

V-2 WAS/WERE
 Form: Verbal
Form: Verbal
FORM : S + V2 + O

+ He worked in the garden yesterday

- He Didn’t Work in the garden yesterday
? Did He work in the garden yesterday?
? Didn’t He work in the garden yesterday?

+ She went to the hospital to visit her friend last week.

- She didn’t go to the hospital to visit her friend last week.
? Did she go to the hospital to visit her friend last week?
? Didn’t she go to the hospital to visit her friend last week?
 Verbal : Questions form
 Yes / No Question

I, she, he, it Study English Yesterday?

Did
we, you, they Go to Bromo last year?

 Wh – Question Subject
You see at the
Who / What Did ?
beach

 Wh – Question non-Subject
I, she, he, it
Wh - word Did Buy there?
we, you, they
 Form: Nominal

• I : I was born in Jakarta.

was
• he: He was a doctor.
• she: She was in the USA.
• it: It was cold yesterday

• we: We were at home yesterday.

• you: You were right!

were • they: They were in Italy last

summer.
 Negative Form

I, he, she, it - was not (wasn’t)

• I wasn’t sick last week.
• He wasn’t in England last summer.
• She wasn’t at school on Monday.

we, you, they – were not (weren’t)

• We were not at home on Saturday.
• You weren’t happy with your grades.
• They weren’t angry with his behavior.
 Questions
 Yes / No Question
Was I, she, he, it An engineer?

Were we, you, they A dentist?

 Wh – Non- Subject Question

Wh - word was I, she, he, it

happy?
were we, you, they
 Wh- Subject Question

Who/What was Your subject on monday?

 Usage
1. Use the Past Simple to express an action that

started and finished at a specific time in the

past. (Short time)

Examples:
 I saw a movie yesterday.

 Last year, I traveled to Japan.

 Did you have dinner last night?

 She washed her car two hours ago.

• 2. We use the Simple Past to list a series of short

actions happening one after another in the past.

Examples:
I finished work, walked to the beach, and found a nice place to
swim.
He arrived from the airport at 8:00, checked into the hotel at
9:00, and met the others at 10:00.
Did you add flour, pour in the milk, and then add the eggs?
• 3.The Simple Past can also be used to describe
past habits. It can have the same meaning as “used
to.”

Examples:
I studied French when I was a child.
He played the violin.
He didn't play the piano.
Did you play a musical instrument when you were a kid?
She worked at the movie theater after school.
 Regular Verbs
 The Past Simple tense of the most English verbs (regular
verbs) is formed by adding "-ed"/"-d" to their base
form. (If the verb ends in "-e", we add "-d" to form the
past simple)
Examples:
 We arrived at 9:00 o'clock.
 My brother lived in London four years ago.
 When she was young, she danced beautifully.
 Spelling Rules
• If a regular verb ends in consonant + y change y to i and add -ed:
carry - carried, study - studied, fry - fried, try - tried

• If a one syllable regular verb ends

in consonant + vowel + consonant double the final consonant and add -
ed -- > stop - stopped, plan - planned, rob - robbed, beg - begged

• If a regular verb has more than one syllable and ends

in consonant + vowel + consonant, we double the final consonant only
if the final syllable is stressed -- > preFER - preferred, regRET -
regretted

• Exception: In British English verbs ending in -l have -ll before -ed whether the final syllable
is stressed or not -- > travel - travelled
 Irregular Verbs
 There are also some verbs called irregular verbs that have
special past tense forms.

See list of irregular verbs

 We went (go) to school yesterday.

 The children read (read) that story last year.
 Tamar wrote (write) the letter to her friend on Sunday.
 The students forgot (forget) to do the homework.
 Exercises
1. John _____ (play) basketball on Sundays

2. Where _____ (spend / you) your last holiday?

3. The students _____ (do) their homework two hour ago

4. This mornings, we _____ (walk) in the streets of London.

5. He still _____ (learn) English with Mr Smith

6. Did you finish your homework before you ______ (go) to

the cinema?

7. What film are they _____ (watch) this moment?