AFFIRMATIVE NEGATIVE INTERROGATIVE

I was I was not I wasn’t Was I?

You were You were not You weren’t Were you?
He was He was not He wasn’t Was he?
She was She was not She wasn’t Was she?
It was It was not It wasn’t Was it?
We were We were not We weren’t Were we?
You were You were not You weren’t Were you?
They were They were not They weren’t Were they?

SHORT ANSWERS We use the Past Tense of to be:

for jobs.
Shakespeare was a famous writer.
for places.
Yes, I was No, I wasn’t She was in Madrid last week.
Yes, you were No, you weren’t to describe people, animals and things.
Yes, he was No, he wasn’t The bus was red.
Yes, she was No, she wasn’t to talk about age.
Yes, it was No, it wasn’t
I was two when my sister was born.
Yes, we were No, we weren’t to talk about the weather and the time.
Yes, you were No, you weren’t It was very hot yesterday.
Yes, they were No, they weren’t It was 5.30 when she arrived.

Past time expressions used with was and were are: yesterday (yesterday morning...)
ago (an hour ago, two months ago...)
last (last night, last week, last summer...)
in 1980

Complete the sentences with was or Complete the sentences with wasn’t or
were. weren’t.

My friends ________ at the party last Saturday. Peter ________ here three days ago.
I ________ very bored last night. The hotel room ________ very big.
They ________ late this morning. They ________ happy when they heard the
Where ________ you on Friday evening? news.
Harry’s house ________ warm and cosy. I ________ well last week.
The cat ________ at the top of the tree. Pam and Fred ________ with their friends
The teacher and the students ________ at the yesterday.
museum yesterday. You ________ at the pub last weekend.
My father ________ at home at lunchtime. My boss ________ very friendly to me.
________ Peter busy yesterday afternoon? The mice ________ in the kitchen.
Sarah and Tony ________ in London last July. The meal of the restaurant ________ very good.
We ________ in Rome in June.
 Change these sentences into the Complete the sentences with was, were,
affirmative, negative or interrogative wasn’t, weren’t.
form.

 The children were excited about the excursion. I couldn’t sleep last night because my neighbours
________ very noisy.

_____________________________________ Carla ________ very happy yesterday because it
________ her birthday and got a lot of presents.

? The weather ________ good last week. It was

terrible!
_____________________________________
Andy ________ very tired after a hard day at work.
 _____________________________________ I went to your house yesterday, but you ________

 My grandmother wasn’t a very good singer. there. Where ________ you?

A lot of people ________ at the meeting on Monday
evening.
?
Kim ________ in hospital a week ago. She had a
_____________________________________ broken leg.
 Mark ________ happy on his first day at school. He
_____________________________________ cried a lot.
 Tom’s grandparents ________ from Italy, so he could
_____________________________________ speak Italian very good.

? Were my friends and I at the mountains on David and Ana ________ at home on Saturday. They
went out with their friends.
Saturday?
Karen ________ at the gym yesterday morning. She
 I was afraid of the dark when I was a child. was running in the park.

 It ________ 7 o’clock when I arrived home.

Write the words in the correct order to
_____________________________________ My twin brothers ________ born 5 years ago.
make sentences. Mozart and Beethoven ________ painters. They
? ________ famous composers.
at school / Mrs. Jones / my teacher / was The exam ________ easy, so I failed it.
_____________________________________
_______________________________________
I ________ twenty-five when I started working.
 in bed / yesterday / weren’t / at eight o’clock / the
_____________________________________
The kids ________ hungry and they didn’t finish their
kids
_______________________________________ dinner.
_____________________________________
you / this morning / hungry / were / ?
? Was it sunny last weekend?
_______________________________________
was / I / in 1990 / at university
Correct the
_______________________________________ mistakes.
last Sunday / were / Robert and Paula / at the
church
_______________________________________
How old was you last year?
wasn’t / the shop assistant / to us / very ______________________________________
friendly These nurses was very helpful.
_______________________________________ ______________________________________
Mark / worried / was / about the exam / ? I weren’t at home yesterday.
______________________________________
_______________________________________
Angela born in 1980.
in the bedroom / the dogs / Tom / with /
______________________________________
were The restaurant was busy?
_______________________________________ ______________________________________
 Make questions with the following words Write these questions in the correct
and was or were. Then look at the order, then match them with the
pictures and give short answers. For the answers.
negative ones, write the correct answer.

1. it / cold / last winter / ? job / was / what / Peter’s / ?

_____________________________________ ______________________________________

_____________________________________ were / where / from / your grandparents / ?

2. Louis / asleep / at 2 o’clock / in the morning / ? ______________________________________

_____________________________________ your parents / how old / when they got married / were

_____________________________________ /?

3. Brad and Vicky / late for school / this morning / ? ______________________________________

_____________________________________ was / Andy’s birthday / when / ?

_____________________________________ ______________________________________

4. the lion / in the jungle / last week / ? sad / the children / why / were / ?

_____________________________________ ______________________________________

_____________________________________ the weather / like / what / yesterday / was / ?

5. your uncle and aunt / well / yesterday / ? ______________________________________

_____________________________________ was / when / your science exam / ?

_____________________________________ ______________________________________

6. you (sing.) / at the cinema / yesterday night / ? you / where / were / yesterday morning / ?

_____________________________________ ______________________________________

_____________________________________
7. Andrew / dressed up / last Halloween / ? a. It was on 4th May.
_____________________________________ b. He was a waiter.
_____________________________________ c. It was very cold and windy.
8. you (pl.) / tired / after the party / ? d. Because they weren’t with their friends.
_____________________________________ e. It was yesterday, and it was very difficult.
_____________________________________ f. They were from Germany.
9. Melissa / at work / last week / ? g. We were at the shopping centre all morning.
_____________________________________ h. My father was twenty-nine and my mother was
_____________________________________ twenty-six.
10. Charles and Elisabeth / at home / for dinner / ?
_____________________________________ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
_____________________________________

1 3 4
5
2

6 8 9 10
7
 ANSWER KEY

1. The children weren’t excited about the excursion.

1. were 1. wasn’t
Were the children excited about the excursion?
1 2. was 2 2. wasn’t 3
3. were 3. weren’t 2. My grandmother was a very good singer.
4. were 4. wasn’t Was my grandmother a very good singer?
5. was 5. weren’t
3. My friends and I were at the mountains on Saturday.
6. was 6. weren’t
My friends and I weren’t at the mountains on
7. were 7. wasn’t
Saturday.
8. was 8. weren’t
9. Was 9. wasn’t 4. I wasn’t afraid of the dark when I was a child.
10. were 10. weren’t Was I afraid of the dark when I was a child?
5. It was sunny last weekend.
It wasn’t sunny last weekend.

1. were
4 2. was, was
3. wasn’t 1. Mrs. Jones was my teacher at school.
4. was 5 2. The kids weren’t in bed at eight o’clock yesterday.
5. weren’t, were 3. Were you hungry this morning?
6. were 4. I was at university in 1990
7. was 5. Robert and Paula were at the church last Sunday.
8. wasn’t 6. The shop assistant wasn’t very friendly to us.
7. Was Mark worried about the exam?
9. were
8. The dogs were in the bedroom with Tom.
10. weren’t
11. wasn’t
12. was
13. were
14. weren’t, were
15. wasn’t
16. was 1. How old were you last year?
17. weren’t
6 2. These nurses were very helpful.
3. I wasn’t at home yesterday.
4. Angela was born in 1980.
5. Was the restaurant busy?

7
1. Was it cold last winter?
Yes, it was. 8
2. Was Louis asleep at 2 o’clock in the morning?
No, he wasn’t. He was awake. What was Peter’s job?
3. Were Brad and Vicky late for school this morning? Where were your grandparents from?
Yes, they were. How old were your parents when they got
4. Was the lion in the jungle last week? married?
No, it wasn’t. It was at the circus. When was Andy’s birthday?
5. Were your uncle and aunt well yesterday? Why were the children sad?
No, they weren’t. They were ill. What was the weather like yesterday?
6. Were you at the cinema yesterday night? When was your science exam?
No, I wasn’t. I was at home. Where were you yesterday morning?
7. Was Andrew dressed up last Halloween?
Yes, he was.
8. Were you tired after the party? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Yes, we were.
9. Was Melissa at work last week? b f h a d c e g
No, she wasn’t. She was at the beach / on holiday.
10. Were Charles and Elisabeth at home for dinner?
No, they weren’t. They were at a restaurant.