7

7A past simple of be: was / were

King Edwa rd VI [['~ wife was America n.
She wasn 't in class yesterday. \Va s she ill?
T he Beatles we re fam ous in the I 960s.
Where were ),ou laSt night? You weren'r at home.

3 44 1))

W"
Were

lived

add-d

stop

stopped

one vowel + one consonant

= double consonant

study

studied

consonant + y > led

7C past simple: irregular verbs

[we nt to Spa in last mo nth .
I didn't go 10 Madrid.
o id you go to Harcclona?

3 59 1))

infinitive

past +'

past --=--

go

went

have

had
got

didn't go
didn't have
didn't get
didn't teach
didn't hear
didn't feel
didn't leave
didn't lose
didn't meet
didn't see
didn't wear
didn't speak
didn't do

get
teach
hear
feel
leave
lose
meet

see
wear
speak

do

taught
heard
felt
left
lost

met
saw
wore
spoke
did

you / we /
they

famous?

worked
yesterday.

It]

Yes,l was.

No, 1wasn't

Yes, you were.

No, you
weren't.

didn't work
yesterday.

It]

IZl
he t

Did

was n't there.

weren't there.

IZl

l/ You/
He /She/It!
We / They

11
you/

S_EF

live

l/ he/she/it

I'!l

We use the pa st simple for finished actions in the past,

add -ed

l/ He / She / lt
You / we / They

El

l/You /
He /She / lt /
We / They

I played tennis this morning.

3 53 )))
We watch ed:l good film on TV la~t night.
My gra ndfather li ved in Vienna when he was young.
I s tudied Germa n when I wasal school.

watched
played

were there.

78 past simple: regular verbs

watch
play

j was there.

I'!l

We use was I wcre to ta Ik about the past.

We o ften use wa s / were with past time expressions,
e.g. ycs/erday. las/ll i8hl, ill 1945. etc,
We use was/ were with hom: I w as borll ill HUII8ar)'.

spelling rules for regular verbs

infinitive past
spelling

El

l/He / She/lt
You / we / They

she /
it!

11
you /

11
you /
work
yesterday?

he t
Yes, she/
it!

did.

he t
No, she /

didn't.

it /

wet

we t

we t

they

they

they

Co ntractio n: didn'l = (lid no /.

Regular verbs in the pasr [!] cnd in -ell.
e.g. 1I'0rk ed, fil'etl, pla),ed.
The past simple is the same for all persons (1.)'011, she. etc.),
Use auxiliaries did Idillll " + infiniti\'e for past si mple[1] and G.
Did is t he past of do.
Use the irregular past fo rm only in[!] sentences:
[sa w a film laS! " i8/rl.
Use t he infinitive aft er did I didn '/:
Did ),011 see afilm /tIS/ll i8ht? NOT 9id-)'Off-mll~
I didrr'r 80 OIa lasl night. NOT hiit#n" -lI'mt';7;
Remember word o rder in questions:o AS I (Au xiliary. S ubject, Infi nitive),
e.g. Did ),011 80 olllitlslllig/rl?or QUASI (Q uestion word . Auxiliary, Subject.
I nfinit ive). e.g. Wlrere did)'0" liD?
There is a list of irregular verbs on page 165.

could

Past of can = could.

G = couldn't NOT didn't-can
= Could you ... ? NOT Did yoo can. .. ?

rn

GRAMMAR BANK
7A
a Compic[c rhe past si mple sentences wi th \\'as I waSII 'r or
were I were,,'t.

p resen t s imple
My father's a painter.
Today is Monday.
2 \ Vhere are yOll now?
3 I'm in [ta ly.
4 Is it hot rod ay?
5 The cafe isn't o pe n now,
6 My neighbours aren't at home.
7 \ Ve're in Romc now.
S They're tired.

past simple
My gra ndfather llill a painter. tOO.
Yeste rday
Where

It
They
We

They

Su nday.

you yesterday?
in Germany last month.
it hot yesterday?
opcn t h is morn ing.
at home yesterday.
in Venice yesterday.
tired last week.

b Complete the d ialogues with was. waSl/'/.

were. o r weren',.
A U!~)'OLL and Ch .. rl ic at rhe COlleen last night ?
B Yes. we I
A 2:
irgood?
B No. it 3_ _ _ . The singer 4_ _ _ terrible.

A S
rhe tickets expensive?
B Yes , they 6._ _ __

A Where 7_ _ _ _ your mother born ?

B She 8
born in Argelll inai n 1955.
A9
her pa rcntsArgentin ian?
B No, they to
. Her fat he r 11_-:--_
Germ an , lIld her mot her 12_ _ _ from Italy.
~ p.S2

7B
a Rewri te t he sentences in rh e past simple wi th yesterda),.

3
4
5
6
7
8

P r esent
Past
I wa tch TV.
I lI'atched TV ycs /mltt),.
Westu dy English.
D o YOlL listen to t he news?
He doesn't cook d inner.
D oes she play SPOrt?
T hey work tate.
I use IIll' internel at work.
S hc chats ro her friend s.
My brot her doesn't da nce. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ __ __

b Complete the senten ces with a ve rb in the

past si m ple.
not call cry dance
I
2

3
4

finish

not listen play

Wc finished work late yesterday.

I
my mother o n her bi rthday.
The film was vcr)' sad. _ __
you
:>
My brorher ____ video games all day
yesterday.
____ to the news Ih is morning
because I was late.
____ Sarah ____ wi th Ma rtin at
the pa rty?

~ p.S4

7C
a

c Cor rect t he inform a tio n usi ng the word in

brackets.

Com plete th e text w ith the verbs in b rackets in t h e pas t Simple.

L:ls t weekend , I lfflll (go) ro London wit h some friends. Wc
I
(meet) at the train station at 7.30 a. m . O ur tra in
2
(leave) at 7.45 a.m. 1n t he morn ing, wc 3
(buy)
some sou,eni rs. T hen. we 4
(have) lunch in an Italia n
reStaurant . In the cve ning, wc 5
(sce) a Sha kespea re play at
t he G lobe T hea t re. We 6
(get) home "cr), latc th:lt night. We
al1 1
(feel) very ti red but vcry happy.

They got home al m idnight. (1 1 p.rn.)

TIIey didn't 1'/ bOllle at midllialll. The)' 8Q.l
hOllle at 11.
She wore a red dress. (blue)
2 I left work early. (Iale)
3 We went by t rai n . (bus)

b C o mplete the questio ns in t he past s im ple.

~

last nigh t? Yes, [ d id.

I W hal
? I wore jea ns.
2 W herc
your frie nds? We met in a cafe.
3 What time
? We got home late.
~ How ______ home? We wem home by taxi.
5

a good rim e? Yes. we had a great ti me.

4 He 1051 his mobi le phone. (wallet)

5 You had a sa ndwich. (salad)
~ p.57

7A GRAMMAR past simple of be: was / were

Q

Complete with was / wasnt or were j w erent to make true sentences.

1 Edward VIII wasnt King for very long.

2 Julius Caesar___________ the first Roman emperor.

3

Tchaikovsky__the composer of Swan Lake.

The Vikings_______________from Germany.

Helena Bonham Carter____________ in the Harry Potter

films.

6 Roald Dahl___________ a famous British musician.

7

The 2010 football World Cup___________ in South Africa.

8 Brad P itt_____________married to Jennifer Aniston.

9

Socrates and Plato______________ Brazilian footballers.

10 Pablo Picasso___________ Spanish.

11 Beethoven___________ a Swiss composer.
12 Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin___________ the first men
to walk on the Moon.
13

Hilary Clinton_____________President of the USA in the

1990s.

14

The Incas___________ from Mexico.

15

Marco Polo___________ born in Italy.

16

The Beatles________

17

Vincent van Gogh and Leonardo da Vinci___________

famous German painters.

18

William Wallace (Braveheart)______________ from Ireland.

19

The last Olympic Games in Asia____________ in Beijing in

2008.

from Liverpool.

20 The Wall Street Crash_______________________in 1939.

Work with a partner. Make questions and test your partners memory.
Was Edward VIII King for very lon g Q ^ J No, he wasnt.

English File 3rd edition Teacher's Book Elementary Photocopiable Oxford University Press 2012

My life is a simple thing that would interest nobody.

It is a known fact that I was born, and that is all that is necessary.

1 GRAMMAR past simple of be: was / were

7 Bono I born I Ireland? ./

Complete the sentences with was were, wasn't, or weren't.

-----------------------------------------?

A
B
A
B
A
B

Who's that?
It's Jane Austen.
Why 1 was she famous?
She 2 ____________ a writer.
3
she Scottish?
No, she 4 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ '
She 5
English. She 6 ______ born
in a small village in the South of England.
A And 7 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ she married?
B No, she 8 ____________ '

8 Amy Winehouse I singer? ./

-----------------------------------------?
9 J R R Tolkien and C S Lewis I painters? X

-----------------------------------------?
10 M ichael Jackson I born I Britain? X

-----------------------------------------?

b W rite question s and an swers.

c

Alexa nder Graham Bell I sportsman? X

__~~a~.sLAllI~ex~a~lilld~e~r~G~l~awh~a~m~B~e~I~I~a~sp~o~l~ts~m~an~________?
No, he wasn't .
2 Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor I actors?./

__W"-!.-"'e.....,re~R
~ic"'h""a.....,rd"_"='
B"""u'_'
rt"'o"'n'_"a=n.."d'_'E="l=iz""a""b'_"e=th.....Y,. .,a""D',-"l"o,,,-r =ac""t""o-'-'r5'----__?
Yes, they were .
3 C harles Dickens I novelist? ./

-----------------------------------------?
4 The Bearles I fro m the USA? X

Complete the dialogues w ith present or past fo rms o f be.

1 A What day ~ it today?
B Monday. Yesterday was

Sunday.

2 A Hi. ____________ your sister at home?

B No, she
. She ____________
here this morning, but now she ___________
at work.
3 A I can't find my keys. Where _ _ _ _ _ _ they?
on your desk
B I don't know. They
this morning.

?
4

A Where
B He
parents

A Why
B Because I

5 Lord Byron I politician? X

?
6 Isaac Newton I composer? X
?

your new boyfriend from?

born in England, but his
born in Singapore.
your boss angry yesterday?
very late for work.

2 VOCABULARY word f ormat ion

4 LISTENING

a Make professions from these words. Use a or an.

1 invent

Listen to a radio programme about the greatest Britons

of all time. Number the people in the order they come on the list.

an inventor

2 write

3 police
4 compose

5 music
6 paint
7 business

8 act
9 science

10 sail

b Underline the stressed syllables, e.g. an inventor.

c Practise saying the words in a.
d Complete the sentences with was I were and a
noun from a.
1
2
3
4

Francis Drake was a sailor .

Beethoven and Mozart were composers
James Dean _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ __ __
Galileo _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __

5
6
7
8
9

Fredd ie Mercury _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
The Wright brothers _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
Agatha Christie _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
Howard Hughes _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
Degas and Toulouse-Lautrec _ _ _ _ _ _ __

3 PRONUNCIATION sent ence st ress

~mf~!) Listen and repeat the conversation.
A Who was Benjamin Britten?
B He was a composer.

A Was he American?
B No, he wasn't. He was English.

A When was he born?

B He was born in 1913.

A Were his pa rents English?

B Yes, they we re.

Listen again. Write T (true) or F (false).

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

We don't know when Shakespeare was born.

Charles Darwin was born on 20th February, 1809.
He was 63 when he died.
Diana was born on 1st July, 1961.
She wasn't married when she died.
Isambard Kingdom BruneI was a writer.
He was 53 when he died.
The greatest Briton of all time was a painter.

USEFUL WORDS AND PHRASES

Learn these words and phrases.
the (16th) century l);) 'sentJ~rt
divorced III \ J:st
between (1816 and 1820) bl ' t\\ i:n
be against (something) hi ~'SJelllst l
be in love (with someone) hi 111 '1\\ /

.L