Page 146 - BACKUP ENGLISH | PREPARATORY CLASS

THEME 12 DETECTIVE STORIES

Structure

Past Form of ‘To Be’
Was and were are the past forms of the verb ‘to be’.
WAS / WASN’T = I, he, she, it, and all singular noun names (singular subject)
e.g. I was good at playing the flute.
WERE / WEREN’T = we, you, they, and all plural noun names (plural subject)
e.g. Samantha and I were friends in high school.

Past Simple
We use the Past Simple for completed actions in the past.
We add ‘-ed’ to all regular verbs.
e.g. I played volleyball with my friends yesterday.
The students went to the zoo last week.
We use ‘did’ to make questions and ‘didn’t’ for negatives. The verb stays in the base form.
e.g. I didn’t see Chen Murdock at school yesterday.
Did you watch the match last night?

Past Continuous

We use the Past Continuous for actions continuing at a time in the past.
e.g. We were playing tennis at 4 p.m. yesterday.
They were eating when we arrived.
We use ‘was / were’ to make questions and ‘wasn’t / weren’t + verb + -ing’ for negatives.
e.g. John wasn’t reading a book when we arrived.
Was your brother driving to work when he saw the accident?

While / As / Just as or When

We use while / as / just as or when to connect two sentences. ‘While’ usually starts the clause with the Past
Continuous, ‘when’ usually starts the clause with the Past Simple.
e.g. It started raining while / as / just as I was cycling.
While / As / Just as I was cycling, it started raining.
e.g. When it started raining, I was cycling.
I was cycling when it started raining.

a) Read the dialogues and complete the questions with was / were and a suitable subject.

e.g.
1. _________________ No, they weren’t at home. Was it cold yesterday? Yes, it was.
at home yesterday? Jane and Alan were out of
the city yesterday.

2. _________________ at Zoe’s
farewell party last Sunday?
3. _________________ Yes, Joey was there.
last Thursday? No, it wasn’t. My birthday
was last Monday.

4.
_________________ in
Maldives last summer? Yes, I and my family were
in Maldives.

144 English for Preparatory Class