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In this lesson you are going to learn about three past tenses. The past simple, the past
continuous and the past with "used to". And about the question words "when", "why" and,
"who".
We are going to study the "past simple tense" first. It can be used to describe a completed
action, situation or event either in the recent or in the distant past.
For the verb "to be", there are two different past simple forms: -- "was" is used with "I",
"he", "she", "it" -- "were" is used with "we", "you", "they"
To form the negative, add "not" after "was" or "were". The contracted forms are "wasn't",
"weren't". The affirmative of "to be" is: I was you were
he (she, it) was we were you were they were And the negative is: I was not - I wasn't
you were not - you weren't he (she, it) was not - he (she, it) wasn't we were not - we weren't you were not - you
weren't they were not - they weren't To form questions, place the correct form
of the verb, "was" or "were", before the subject. was I? were you? was he (she, it)? were we?
were you? were they? Affirmative short answers use "was"/"were":
yes, I was yes, you were yes, he (she, it) was yes, we were yes, you were yes, they were
Negative short answers use "wasn't"/"weren't":no, I wasn't no, you weren't no, he (she, it)
wasn't no, we weren't no, you weren't no, they weren't
"There" can be used as a subject: -- "there was" for "c'era"-- "there were" for "c'erano"
Here are some sentences using "was", "wasn't". Note that the contracted negative form is
always pronounced /wasn't/. Instead the strong form /was/ is used in short answers and can
be used in questions while the weak form /wuz/ is normally used in affirmative sentences
and can be used in questions. Was it hot in London yesterday? Yes, it was. No, it wasn't.
Richard the Lion-hearted was king of England from to . John wasn't at home when I telephoned
a few minutes ago. This is also true for the pronunciation of
"were", "weren't". The negative contracted form is always pronounced
/weren't/. The strong form /were/ is used only in questions and in short answers.
The weak form /wuh/ can be used in questions and is normally used in affirmative sentences.
Were they home when you telephoned? Yes, they were. No, they weren't.
There were terrible snowstorms in New York in . People were afraid of cats during the
Middle Ages. The Smiths weren't at the party on Saturday.
Now we are going to look at the past simple tense of other verbs. Remember, we use the
past simple when describing a completed action, situation or event and we use it both for
the recent past and the distant past. The verb "to be" has two past forms. Other
verbs have only one. For regular verbs, the past simple is formed by adding "ed" to the
base verb. The past simple is invariable. For "work",
it is "worked" I worked you worked he (she, it) worked we worked you worked they worked
One point that is extremely important to remember is not to use auxiliaries in past simple affirmative
sentences. This means you cannot translate from Italian
where "essere" and "avere" are often used. You must use the past simple form immediately
after the subject. Sono stato a Londra per due mesi quando avevo
diciannove anni. is: I stayed in London for two months when I was nineteen.
Ho lavorato in un ristorante l'anno scorso. Is: I worked in a restaurant last year.
"To be", which you've just studied, and "can" and other modal verbs, which will be studied
further on, do not require an auxiliary to form negative and interrogative sentences
but all other verbs do. To form negative and interrogative sentences
in the past simple we use the auxiliary "did". This is really very simple as "did" is invariable.
In the negative we use: "did" + "not" or, in the contracted form, "didn't" before the
base verb without "ed". I did not work I didn't work you did not work
you didn't work he (she, it) did not work he (she, it) didn't work
we did not work we didn't work you did not work you didn't work they did not work they
didn't work In questions, we place "did" before the base
verb without "ed". did I work? did you work? did he (she, it) work? did we work? did you
work? did they work? Affirmative short answers are formed with
a subject pronoun + "did": yes, I did yes, you did yes, he did etc.
Negative short answers are formed with subject pronoun + "didn't": no, I didn't no, you didn't
no, he didn'tetc. We're now going to study: spelling changes
in the written forms of the past simple tense, and the rules about how to pronounce the past
simple tense of verbs. First, spelling changes. -- To regular verbs
which end in silent "e", simply add "d": hope -- hoped situate -- situated change -- changed
die -- died -- When a regular verb ends in a single consonant
preceded by a single vowel, we double the consonant before adding "ed": stop -- stopped
tin -- tinned -- When a regular verb ends in "y" preceded
by a consonant, "y" is changed to "i" before adding "ed":study -- studied marry -- married
This is not the case when a regular verb ends in "y" preceded by a vowel, when you simply
add "ed": enjoy -- enjoyed stay - stayed How the "ed" ending is pronounced depends
on the different ways verbs end: -- With verbs that end in "t" or "d" it is
pronounced as a separate unstressed syllable, /id/. wanted, needed, started, ended
-- With verbs that end in an unvoiced consonant sound, it is not a separate syllable and is
pronounced /t/. Examples are: hoped, panicked, coughed, missed, wished, bathed, watched
-- With verbs that end in other consonant sounds and in vowel sounds it is not a separate
syllable and is pronounced /d/. robbed, hugged, managed, travelled, served, borrowed, married
What comes naturally to Italian speakers is to always pronounce it as a separate syllable
and this is wrong. "marri-ed" is a mistake "married" is correct
"hop-ed" is a mistake "hoped" is correct And you must remember to say /id/. The "ed"
ending is never pronounced /ed/. "paint-ed" is a mistake "painted" is correct
And then of course, there are irregular verbs. You'll have to learn the past simple form
of each irregular verb you need to use and it probably won't be simple.
become - became begin - began go - went have - had teach - taught write - wrote and many,
many more. Nobody loves irregular verbs but there's very
little we can do about them. Here are some time expressions that are frequently
used with the past simple tense: -- yesterday (ieri) -- yesterday morning, afternoon, evening
(ieri mattina, pomeriggio, sera) -- last night, last Saturday, last month (la
notte scorsa, sabato scorso, il mese scorso) -- a week ago, a hundred years ago (una settimana
fa, cento anni fa) -- a long time ago, many years ago (molto
tempo fa, molti anni fa) -- a short time ago, a little while ago (un po di tempo fa)
Note that prepositions are not used with these expressions: I saw Jim yesterday morning.
I didn't go to Liam's party last Saturday. I finished school a long time ago.
These expressions are almost always placed at the end of a sentence. They are placed
at the beginning of a sentence only for special emphasis.
Before studying the other past tenses, we are going to see how to describe ability in
the past, using "could", which is the past of "can", and using "was/were able to" or
"managed to". "Could" is not only the past of "can". It
has other meanings but we are not going to study these meanings now.
"Could" and the negative "could not", whose contracted form is "couldn't", are invariable.
The auxiliary "did" is not used and questions are formed by placing "could" before the subject.
Here are some examples: Could you swim when you were five? I could swim when I was four.
Note that here we are describing general ability -- the ability to do something at any time.
We are not describing particular ability -- the ability to do something on one occasion.
In past tense affirmative sentences and in questions asking about a particular occasion
when someone actually did something we do not use "could".
We use "was/were able to". Were you able to do the shopping? Yes, the supermarket was
open so I was able to get the eggs. It is also possible to use "managed to".Did
you manage to phone? Yes, I found his number so I managed to phone.
Compare the following sentences. When we are describing general ability in the past, we
use "could". Roger Bannister could run very fast.
When we mean that someone actually did something, we cannot use "could".
Roger Bannister was the first person who was able to break the four-minute mile. Roger
Bannister was the first person who managed to break the four-minute mile.
In these sentences, the use of "could" is a mistake. If you use "could" for particular
ability in the past, you will confuse the person you are speaking or writing to.
But, in negative sentences, "could not" and "wasn't/weren't able to" can both be used
for particular ability: I couldn't phone you because I didn't have
your number. I wasn't able to phone you because I couldn't find your number.
You have seen that "can" is used in the present with verbs of perception to indicate that
the experience is occurring at the moment of speaking.
For the past, "could" or "couldn't" are used: I was sure he was at home. I could hear the
television. It was foggy. I couldn't see anything. I could
smell smoke.
Let's look now at two other past tenses. The past continuous tense, also called the "past
progressive tense", is formed using: -- "was" with (I, he, she, it) -- "were" with
(we, you, they) with the base verb + the "ing" participle
In negative sentences, "not" follows "was" or "were" and questions are formed by placing
"was"/"were" before the subject. The affirmative past continuous is: I was
working he (she, it) was working we were working you were working they were working
The negative is: I was not working I wasn't working he, she, it was not working he, she,
it wasn't working we, you, they were not working we, you, they weren't working
The interrogative is: was I working? was he, she, it working?were we, you, they working?
Affirmative short answers use "was"/"were": yes, I was yes, he, she, it was yes, we, you,
they were Negative short answers use "wasn't"/"weren't":
no, I wasn't no, he, she, it wasn't no, we, you, they weren't
This tense is used to describe past activities that are seen as temporary. In I was studying
in London. What were you studying? It is also used for activities that were occurring
at the past moment being described. It was late. I was sitting in the kitchen. I was
tired but I was thinking about the day's events. The past continuous is often used to describe
an activity or situation happening when a single action or event occurred.
In this case "when", meaning "quando", is used with the single action. What were you
doing when you met your husband? It was raining when I got up this morning.
"While", meaning "mentre", is used with the activity or situation. I met him while I was
spending the summer in France. While I was going to work this morning, it started to
rain. Examples of questions and short answers are:
Was it raining when you left for work? Yes, it was. Were you working at the time? No,
I wasn't. Verbs which are not used in the continuous
form, are not usually used with the past continuous with the exceptions you have studied.
You cannot say:I was having a telephone. But you can say: The phone rang while I was having
a shower.
There is another past tense, the past with "used to". The structure "used to" + base
verb refers to habits and states that existed only in the past and no longer exist now.
It cannot be used for specific actions or events. You cannot say: I used to see John
yesterday. It used to snow a lot last winter. "Used to" is invariable. I used to live in
the country when I was a child. We used to have a horse. There used to be a chestnut
tree near the house. The negative is "did not use to". The contracted
form "didn't use to" is normally used: I didn't use to like broccoli.
Questions are formed by placing "did" before the subject and "use to".Where did you use
to live? What kind of music did you use to like?
Frequency adverbs generally go before "used to". We never used to watch television. I
sometimes used to play cards with my grandparents. We use "used to" when what we want to emphasize
is that an action or situation existed for an extended period of time in the past.
You can use the past simple instead but it is common to use "used to". It is important
to remember that there is no form "use to" for habitual present actions.
For the present, you must use the present simple tense. I live in the country. I have
a horse. I don't like broccoli.
Now I'd like to present some new question words: -- "quando" is "when" When did you
leave school? When did you use to study? -- "perché" is "why" in questions: Why did
you move to Rome? Why were you looking for me? Why did he use to be afraid of dogs?
-- in statements, both affirmative and negative, we use "because": We moved to Rome because
my father worked there. I was looking for you because I didn't have the key.
-- if you are answering a question, you can also say: Because my father worked there.
Because I didn't have the key. -- however, use "why" in sentences that begin
like these: I wonder why he was afraid of dogs. I don't know why he was afraid of dogs.
-- "chi" is "who" Who did you see yesterday? Who were you talking to on the phone just
now? Who did you use to look like -- your father or your mother?
Notice that in these three examples, "who" and the subject of the sentence are not the
same. When "who" is the subject, the auxiliaries "do", "does", "did" are not used in questions:
Who saw you yesterday? Who was talking to you just now? Who used to take you to school
-- your father or your mother? That is the end of lesson six. Now you can
do the exercises on the grammar points presented in this unit.