Touchstone 2nd Edition Language summary Level 1

Unit 11 Lesson A: My first . . .

Vocabulary
Adjectives
embarrassing (adj)
first (adj)
relaxed (adj)
young (adj)

Feelings
happy (adj)
pleased (adj)
nervous (adj)
scared (of) (adj)

Be in the simple past

was (v)
wasn't (v)
were (v)
weren't (v)

Other words
either (adv)
only (adv)
customer (n)
(embarrassing) mistake (n)
kid (n)
my first day of work / school (n)
your first pet (n)
make a mistake (v)

Cambridge University Press 2014 Unit 11, Lesson A, Page 1

Touchstone 2nd Edition Language summary Level 1

Grammar
Simple past of be
The simple past of be is was / wasnt / were / werent.

Affirmative statements

Use was with I, he, she, it, and singular nouns:

She was strict.

My teacher was strict.

Use were with you, we, they, and plural nouns:

You were nervous.

The children were nervous.

Negative statements

Use wasn't (= was not) with I, he, she, it, and singular nouns:

He wasn't happy.

My boss wasn't happy.

Use weren't (= were not) with you, we, they, and plural nouns:

We weren't noisy.

The children weren't noisy.

Cambridge University Press 2014 Unit 11, Lesson A, Page 2

Touchstone 2nd Edition Language summary Level 1

Yes-No questions and short answers

Use Was / Were + subject to ask a Yes-No question in the simple past.

Use was with I, he, she, it, and singular nouns:

Was it fun?

Was the class fun?

Use were with you, we, they, and plural nouns:

Were they nice?

Were the customers nice?

Affirmative short answers

Use Yes + subject + was with I, he, she, and it:

A Was she strict?

B Yes, she was.

Use Yes + subject + were with you, we, and they:

A Were they nice?

B Yes, they were.

Negative short answers

You can use No + subject + wasn't / weren't to answer a question in the simple past with be.

(wasn't = was+ not) (weren't = were+ not)

Use No + subject + wasn't (= was not) with I, he, she, and it:

A Were you nervous?

B No, I wasn't.

Use No + subject + weren't (= were not) with you, we, and they:

A Were they nice?

B No, they weren't.

Cambridge University Press 2014 Unit 11, Lesson A, Page 3