Unit 11A

In Units 11A, 11B and 11C you will learn:

• how to talk about past events
• to describe surroundings from past experiences
• about vacations with adjectives
• more expressions for illness
• how to accept and decline invitations
• various conjunctions
• about the expression used to

Lesson 1:    Be and the Past Tense

I was at home. They were at work.

It's now necessary to learn how to use be in the past tense.
Look at the grammar table.

	I was at home.  He was in the garden.  They were sick.
	She was at school.  We were in the garden.  You were at work.

Lesson 2:    Was and Were

He was at work yesterday.

Was is used with singular nouns and pronouns.

I was in the park.  He was at the cinema. Tina was at the shopping mall.

Were is used with plural nouns and pronouns.

We were hungry.  You were at the beach. They were in the living room.

Students often confuse was and were, and tend to use only was.
But remember that was is used only in singular.

Exercise 1    Use the correct form of be below.

Exercise 2    Look at the pictures and answer the
questions. SPEAK!

 Where Were They?

1	2	3	4
Where was John?	Where was David?	Where was Amy?	Where was Julie?

Answers

1. He was at the post office. 2. He was at the museum.
3. She was at the bus station. 4. She was at the nightclub.

The examples in the above exercise are only location. But
remember that be is also used with people.

He was a teacher. Now he is a sales representative.

She was a student. Now she is a nurse.

Lesson 3:    Asking Questions

Where were you?

The rule is the same for asking questions with be in the past tense. Remember to invert the pronoun or noun with be.

Where was he?  Where were you?  Where were they?

It isn't possible to say, for example, Where you were? You must say Where were you?   

Exercise 3    Use the correct form of be with the questions.

Be of course is not only used with Where.

	What was his company called?  It was called Labrador Incorporated.
	When were you at home?  I was at home this morning.
	Who was Lucy with?  She was with her mother.

Lesson 4:    Short Answers

Was David sick yesterday? Yes, he was.

Notice how short answers are used.

	Was Michael at school?  Yes, he was.  No, he wasn't.
	Were the children happy?  Yes, they were.  No, they weren't.

Exercise 4    Answer the questions. SPEAK!

1. Was Tommy angry? (yes) 2. Were you at home yesterday? (no) 
3. Was she at work? (no) 4. Were the children in the park? (yes) 
5. Were Mr. and Mrs Miller late to the party? (yes)
6. Was John upset? (no) 7. Were they on time? (yes) 
8. Was the weather nice? (yes) 9. Was dinner delicious? (yes)
10. Were your relatives at home yesterday? (no)

Answers

1. Yes, he was. 2. No, I wasn't. 3. No, she wasn't. 4. Yes, they were. 
5. Yes, they were. 6. No, he wasn't. 7. Yes, they were. 8. Yes, it was.
9. Yes, it was. 10. No, they weren't.

Lesson 5:    How Was Your Weekend?

It was great.

Look at the dialog below.

A: How was your weekend? B: It was great. A: What did you do? B: I visited my parents.

Exercise 5     Practice the dialog with the information.

Example    play basketball

A:    How was your weekend?
B:     It was great.
A:     What did you do?
B:     I played basketball.

1. go to the beach 2. go out with friends 3. go to a football game
4. play cards 5. go skiing