Verb "TO BE" (simple past)
Look at these personalities: Do you know them?
We use the verb WAS - WERE to talk about the nationalites, jobs, dates in the past :
1) She was Frida Kahlo. She was a painter.
2) He was Mozart. He was born in 1756 in Austria
3) They were Mozart and Beethoven. They were composers.
Let's practise
Simple past:
Regular / Irregular verbs
The words in bold are the verbs in the simple past.
There are two types:
Positive Sentences
Regular Verbs: Add "d" or "ed" to the verb
1) Men and women started using metals (start+ed)
2) They lived near the rivers (live+d)
Irregular Verbs: The word changes
1) They wore clothes made from animals (wear/wore)
2) Small villages became cities (become/became)
Negative Sentences
Regular/Irregular verbs
They didn't move from one place to the other
They didn't wear clothes made from fabric
Questions
1) Did they live near the rivers?
Yes, they did
2) Did you know about prehistory?
Yes, I did / No, I didn't
3) What did you know?