To Be in the Past tense Chapter 6

Review last week Today we will Last week we studied past tense verbs. You used past tense verbs to talk about vacations. You also used past tense verbs to talk about what you did last week. Today we will Continue talking about past tense You used the past tense of the be verb to talk about things that happened in the past. Create sentences using the PT of the be verb plus time expressions. Ask and answer questions using the PT of be

What is the be verb The be verb has 5 forms. am – I am your teacher. is – He is happy today. are – you are my students. was – I was your teacher last semester. were – You were my students last semester. am – is – are >>> present tense was – were >>> past tense

The be verb – Present Tense Now Jim is 65 years old. today He is old.

The be verb – Past Tense Past Jim was 10 years old. He was young.

The be verb – Present & Past Tense They are old. Now today They were young. Past

The be verb – Present & Past Tense Present Tense Past Tense I He She It am is happy. rich. a doctor. easy. I He She It was sad. poor. a student. difficult. We You They are early. at school. noisy. We You They were late. at home. quiet.

Let’s Practice Change the following sentences into the past tense. Now He is hungry. Past He was hungry. __________

Let’s Practice Change the following sentences into the past tense. Now She is angry. Past She was angry. __________

Let’s Practice Change the following sentences into the past tense. Now I am sorry. Past I was sorry. __________

Let’s Practice Change the following sentences into the past tense. Now It is hot outside. Past It was hot outside. _________

Let’s Practice Change the following sentences into the past tense. Now We are at school. Past We were at school. ____________

Let’s Practice Change the following sentences into the past tense. Now They are students. Past They were students. ____________

Let’s Practice Change the following sentences into the past tense. Now You are confused. Past You were confused. ____________

Let’s Practice Change the following sentences into the past tense. Now Sally is at home. Past Sally was at home. _________

Let’s Practice Change the following sentences into the past tense. Now Bob and Sally are both single. Past Bob and Sally were both single. ____________

Let’s Practice Change the following sentences into the past tense. Now The elephant is big. Past The elephant was big. __________

Time Phrases with Present Tense. We can use time expression with the present tense such as right now now today at the moment I am happy now. He is in class at the moment. The children are noisy today. She is busy right now.

Time Phrases with Past Tense. We can use time expression with the past tense such as last week last year yesterday last month a while ago I was sad yesterday. He was angry a while ago. The students were at the park yesterday. We were on vacation last week.

Contrasting Present and Past We can use both the present and the past tense in the same sentence. When we do this it is to show a contrast between something in the past and something in the present. I was ______ (in the past),but I am _____ (in the present.) I was sad yesterday, but I am happy now. It was hot last week, but it is cold this week. They were angry a while ago, but they are okay now. The dogs were noisy an hour ago, but they are quiet now.

Practice Time: Answer the following questions using the past tense of the be verb. All answers should be true for you. Where were you at 3 a.m. this morning? Where were you at 8 p.m. last night? Where were you at 10 a.m. this morning? Where were you at 2 p.m. last Friday? Where were you at 11 a.m. last Thursday. Where were you at 10 a.m. Sunday?

Practice Time: Practice the following conversation with a partner. A: Were you at home last night? B: No. I wasn’t. A: Where were you? B: I was at the soccer game. A: Was the game good? B: Yes. The game was good, but the weather wasn’t good. It rained B: What about you, where were you last night? A: I was at home. I was not feeling well. B: I’m sorry. Are you okay now. A: Yes. I was sick yesterday, but I am okay now.

In today’s class You learned how to use the to be verb in the present and past tense. You learned how to contrast a present event with a past event using the conjunction but. You practiced using the to be verb in the past tense by answering questions and by practicing a dialog with a partner.