The Past Simple with 'be'

POSITIVE : - I was/ You were/ She, He, It was/ We were/ They were/

NEGATIVE: I was not – I wasn’t/ You were not – You weren’t/ She, He, It was not - She, He, It weren’t/ We were not We waren’t/ They were not – They waren’t/

QUESTIONS: Was I sleepy?/ Were you late? / Has she, he, it …? / Were we hungry?/Were they at work?

The 'wh' questions with 'be' (the question word just goes at the beginning, everything else is the same):

Why was I sleepy? …The Past Simple (Simple Past) with Other Verbs

The positive: We usually make the positive by adding '-ed' to the infinitive. For example, 'play' becomes 'played'.

I walked / you played / he, she cooked / it rained / we ate (irregular)/ they drank (irregular)

Negative: In the negative there aren't any irregular verbs. All verbs use 'did not (didn't) + infinitive' did not / didn’tQuestions :

Did I walk? Did you play? Did ….The 'wh' questions:where did I go? …

Finished actions: I knew Julie for ten years (but then she moved away and we lost touch).

A finished action in someone's life (when the person is dead): My great-grandmother went to Mexico three times.

A finished action with no result in the present: I lost my keys yesterday. It was terrible! (Now there is no result. I got new keys yesterday).

With a finished time word (last week, last month, yesterday): I saw John last week.

Present Perfect Simple

Unfinished actions that started in the past and continue to the presentI've known Julie for ten years (and I still know her).

A finished action in someone's life (when the person is still alive: life experience): My brother has been to Mexico three times.

A finished action with a result in the present: I've lost my keys! (The result is that I can't get into my house now).

With an unfinished time word (this week, this month, today): I've seen John this week.

The positive present perfect tense, use: 'have' / 'has' + the past participle

Make the past participle by adding 'ed' to regular verbs (for example, 'play' becomes 'played')I have played / you have worked/ he has written/ she has walked/ it has rained/ we have travelled/ they have studied/

The Negative:

I have not eaten breakfast today / I haven't eaten / he has not seen the new film / he hasn't seenwe have not slept all night / we haven't slept /they have not tried the food / they haven't tried

To make a question, put 'have' or 'has' in front of the subject:have I missed the bus? / have you visited London? / has he worked as a waiter before? / has it been cold this week?

'Wh' Questions:

where have I left my umbrella? /what have you done today? why has he gone already? where has she been in the UK? / why has it rained so much this summer? / what have we done? where have they learned English before?Remember:

We use the past simple for past events or actions which have no connection to the present.We use the present perfect for actions which started in the past and are still happening now OR for finished actions which have a connection to the present.We CAN'T use the present perfect with a finished time word: NOT: I've been to the museum yesterday.

The Present Continuous Tense

The present continuous (sometimes called the present progressive) tense in English is really easy to make and is the same for all verbs. We make it using the present simple of 'be' + verb-ing:

The positive:I am sleeping / I'm sleepingyou are sleeping / you're sleepinghe is sleeping / he's sleepingwe are sleeping/ we're sleepingthey are sleeping/ they're sleeping

We can make the negative by adding 'not':

I am not sleeping / I'm not sleepingit is not raining/ it isn't rainingQuestions :

am I eating chocolate ? / are you studying now ? / is he working ? is she doing her homework ? / is it raining ? are we meeting at six ? / are they coming ?

Wh Questi

ons: Why am I eating chocolate ? What are you studying now ? / When is he working ?What is she doing ? / Why is it raining ? / Who are we meeting ? / How

are they travelling ?