They Were Just Babies!
Your first past tense, and it is the smallest one in English. Two words — was and were — and suddenly you can talk about yesterday, last year, and a photo of somebody famous at three years old.
Warm-up
Short answers. Tap a card when you have answered it.
Everything you have said so far has been about now. From this class you get a second half of the language: everything that already happened. It starts with two words.
Useful language
Where were you?
Click a phrase, then click its meaning. Notice the little word at the start — at, in or on. It is part of the phrase.
More places
Click a phrase in the bank, then click a gap. Every sentence is in the past.
I was
_____ at home, cooking dinner for my family.
She was
_____ — I was driving and she was next to me.
We were
_____ last night. The waiter was nice and the food was very good.
The children were
_____, under the trees, with a ball.
I was
_____, but not in bed. I was at the desk.
He was
_____, buying milk and bread.
They were
_____ before work, lifting weights and running on the machines.
I was
_____ with forty other passengers for an hour, so I read my book.
Guess the baby
Read first, then play the video and try the quiz yourself.
A man stops people on the street and shows them a baby photo. He asks one question: who is this? Most of them get it wrong, and that is the whole game.
The five singers in the photos are Adele, Drake, Bruno Mars, Ariana Grande and Harry Styles. Today everybody knows their faces. In the photos they were babies.
Adele is English, and Harry Styles is English too. Drake is Canadian. Bruno Mars and Ariana Grande are both American.
To talk about the photos you need one small verb in the past. Harry Styles is famous today, and Harry Styles is famous today, but in this photo he was just a baby.
Adele and Ariana are great singers today. In the photos they were two little girls. One verb, two forms: was and were.
Was goes with I, he, she and it. Were goes with you, we and they. That is the whole rule, and there is nothing else to learn.
You also need the words that put a sentence in the past: yesterday, last night, last week, in 2010, yesterday morning. Without one of those, nobody knows when.
Multiple choice
Click an answer and you get the result right away, with the reason.
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What does the man show people on the street?
And then he asks who it is.
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How many singers are in the quiz?
Adele, Drake, Bruno Mars, Ariana Grande and Harry Styles.
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Adele is:
From London. Harry Styles is English too.
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Drake is:
He is the only Canadian on the list.
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Which two are American?
Bruno Mars is from Hawaii and Ariana Grande is from Florida.
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In the photos, the singers were:
Which is why nobody recognizes them.
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Which form goes with I?
I, he, she, it — all four take was.
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Which form goes with they?
You, we, they — all three take were.
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"Harry Styles ______ famous in the past."
One person, and in the past puts it in the past.
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"Adele and Ariana ______ two lovely girls."
Two people is the same as they.
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Which one is a past time expression?
So are yesterday, last week and in 2010.
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Why does the text say you need those words?
I was at home is true of almost every day of your life.
Was and were
The present has three forms — am, is, are. The past has only two. So this is the one place in English where the past is easier than the present.
- I was a teacher in 2010. · He was my student. · She was ten years old in the photo. · It was my first job.
- You were a child in the past. · We were friends. · They were babies.
- Negative: wasn't / weren't. I wasn't at home. · They weren't at the party.
- Question: put it first. Were you at school? · How old was she in the photo?
- Time words: yesterday · last night · last week · in 2010 · yesterday morning
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I ______ at school yesterday morning.
I takes was, and yesterday morning makes it past.
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My friends ______ at the party last night.
More than one friend, so it is the same as they.
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My friends and I ______ in a café last Saturday.
Careful with this one: my friends and I is we, not I.
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Which sentence is correct?
One person takes was, and be never needs did.
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How do you ask about the past?
The verb jumps to the front, exactly like are in the present.
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"Were you at the gym?" You weren't. You say:
The answer copies the verb from the question, and I takes was.
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"How old ______ she in the photo?"
Even with a question word in front, the rule is the same.
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"I am a teacher" in the past is:
One word changes and the rest of the sentence stays exactly the same.
At, in or on?
- at — a place you go to for what it does: at home, at work, at school, at college, at the gym
- in — inside something with walls or edges: in the kitchen, in my car, in a restaurant, in a park, in a supermarket
- on — on a surface or a line, and on public transport: on the street, on a bus
- Two to just learn: in bed (not on bed) and at home (never in the home).
- Your car, their bus: you sit in a car but on a bus, a train or a plane. Big enough to walk in, and it takes on.
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I was ______ home all day.
At home — always, with no the.
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She was ______ the kitchen.
A room has walls, so you are inside it.
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They were ______ a bus for two hours.
Public transport takes on, even though you are inside it.
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But: I was ______ my car.
Small enough that you sit inside it, not walk around in it.
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He was ______ university in 2010.
Places you go to study or work all take at.
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At eleven at night I was ______ bed.
In bed, with no the. Just learn this one.
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The children were ______ a park.
A park has edges, so you are inside them.
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There were a lot of people ______ the street.
A street is a line, and you walk along the top of it.
Write sentences with was and were
Example: Susana / our teacher in 1996. → Susana was our teacher in 1996. Look at who or what comes first, then choose.
Count before you write. One person or thing takes was; two or more take were. My friends and I counts as two or more — that is the one everybody gets wrong.
aSusana / our teacher in 1996.
bI / at school yesterday morning.
cWe / in a restaurant yesterday.
dMy friends / at the party last night.
eDavid / very angry last class.
fI / a waiter in my first job.
gKim and Kylie / very young in the video.
hMy friends and I / in a café last Saturday.
iI / eleven years old in the photo.
jJustin / very famous as a teen.
kLucy and Sandra / friends at school.
lMy brothers / at home.
From now to then
Rewrite the sentence in the past. Add the time words in the cue, and change nothing else.
in 2010I am a teacher.
this morningShe is at school today.
in the pastYou are a child.
no time wordsHe is my student.
no time wordsIt is my first job.
no time wordsWe are friends.
no time wordsThey are babies.
in the pastHarry Styles is famous today.
Seven truths and one lie
Finish all eight sentences about yourself. Seven are true and one is false. I have to find the lie. Then we swap.
Useful language
My photo
60–100 words. Think of a photo of yourself as a child. Where were you? How old were you? Who was with you? What was the day like? Use was and were at least six times, and three of the place phrases from this class.
My results
Check your score, then copy it and send it to your teacher on WhatsApp.
One line before you sleep, every night this week. "At eight o'clock this morning I was …" Say it out loud. You are building the reflex for every past tense that comes after this one.