"Ernesto "Che" Guevara was born on 14th June, 1928. He was bornin Rosario, Argentina. He was a doctor and a famous guerrilla leader. As a guerrilla leader, he was hope for poor people in South America and Cuba. Che Guevara's parents were Ernesto Guevara Lynch, a civil engineer of Irish descent, and Celia de la Serna, of Spanish descent. They were born in Argentina too. There are some very good films about his life."
ACCORDING TO THE TEXT:
Where was he born?
When was he born?
What was he famous for?
ANSWER THE QUESTIONS:
What can you see in the text?
What about the red words?
LOOK AT THE VIDEO ABOUT PAST SIMPLE OF VERB TO BE:
READ THE RULES ABOUT THE PAST SIMPLE OF VERB TO BE
To Be - Past Tense
- Use was/were to talk about the past.
To Be - Affirmative
Subject
To Be
Examples
I
was
I was tired this morning.
You
were
You were very good.
He
was
He was the best in his class.
She
was
She was late for work.
It
was
It was a sunny day.
We
were
We were at home.
You
were
You were on holiday.
They
were
They were happy with their test results.
To Be - Negative Sentences
The negative of To Be can be made by adding not after the verb (was or were).
Subject
To Be
Examples
I
was not
I was not tired this morning.
You
were not
You were not crazy.
He
was not
He was not married.
She
was not
She was not famous.
It
was not
It was not hot yesterday.
We
were not
We were not invited.
You
were not
You were not at the party.
They
were not
They were not friends.
To Be - Negative Contractions
The can make negative contractions of the verb To Be in the Past tense by joining the verb (was or were) and n't (e.g. were not = weren't). We don't make a contraction of the subject and the verb (e.g. I was).
I was not tired this morning.
OR
I wasn't tired this morning.
You were not crazy.
OR
You weren't crazy.
He was not married.
OR
He wasn't married.
She was not famous.
OR
She wasn't famous.
It was not hot yesterday.
OR
It wasn't hot yesterday.
We were not invited.
OR
We weren't invited.
You were not at the party.
OR
You weren't at the party.
They were not friends.
OR
They weren't friends.
* Notice that we don't have contractions for To Be in Past Tense affirmative sentences.
To Be - Questions
To create questions with To Be, you put the Verb before the Subject.
Affirmative
You
were
happy.
Subject
Verb
Question
Were
you
happy?
Verb
Subject
Affirmative
Question
I was late
Was I late?
You were sick.
Were you sick?
He was surprised.
Was he surprised?
She was from Italy.
Was she from Italy?
It was a big house.
Was it a big house?
We were ready.
Were we ready?
You were early.
Were you early?
They were busy.
Were they busy?
To Be - Short Answers
In spoken English, we usually give short answers in response to questions.
Was he from Japan? - Yes, he was (from Japan). The last part (from Japan) is not necessary. We use shorts answers to avoid repetition, when the meaning is clear.
Question
Short Answers**
Short Answers
Was I late?
Yes, you were.
No, you weren't.
Were you sick?
Yes, I was.
No, I wasn't.
Was he surprised?
Yes, he was.
No, he wasn't.
Was she from Italy?
Yes, she was.
No, she wasn't.
Was it a big house?
Yes, it was.
No, it wasn't.
Were we ready?
Yes, we were.
No, we weren't.
Were you early?
Yes, we were.
No, we weren't.
Were they busy?
Yes, they were.
No, they weren't.
** With To Be, We don't use contractions in affirmative short answers.
