Colour Your English - 2008

Word families

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Grammar explanations with examples

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Brian's story: a boy like you

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Focus on culture & cross-curricular topics

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Everyday conversations

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Verbo to be (pasado)

Forma afirmativa>
I was
You were
He was
She was
It was
We were
You were
They were

El verbo to be en pasado tiene dos formas diferentes: was para la 1ª y 3ª persona del singular, y were para las demás.

Example: He was in Málaga yesterday. (Él estuvo en Málaga ayer.)

Example: We were good friends. (Éramos buenos amigos.)

Forma negativa >	Forma negativa contraída>
I was not	I wasn't
You were not	You weren't
He was not	He wasn't
She was not	She wasn't
It was not	It wasn't
We were not	We weren't
You were not	You weren't
They were not	They weren't

El verbo to be en forma negativa se forma añadiendo la partícula not. Se suele contraer el verbo to be con la partícula not.

Example: They weren't at home last night. (Ellos no estaban en casa anoche.)

Forma interrogativa>	Respuestas cortas>
Was I...?	Yes, I was. / No, I wasn't.
Were you...?	Yes, you were. / No, you weren't.
Was he...?	Yes, he was. / No, he wasn't.
Was she...?	Yes, she was / No, she wasn't.
Was it...?	Yes, it was. / No, it wasn't.
Were we...?	Yes, we were. / No, we weren't.
Were you...?	Yes, you were. / No, you weren't.
Were they...?	Yes, they were. / No, they weren't.

Para formar las preguntas sólo hay que cambiar el orden del sujeto y el verbo to be, colocando a este último delante. Las respuestas cortas afirmativas no se contraen nunca.

En cambio las negativas se deben contraer siempre.

Example: Were you ill last week? Yes, I was. (¿Estuviste enfermo la semana pasada? Sí.)

Las expresiones de tiempo que aparecen con el verbo to be en pasado son las típicas de cualquier verbo en pasado, o sea, aquellas que nos indican el momento del pasado en que ocurrió la acción: yesterday, last night, last week, on Monday, in 1999, two months ago... Las expresiones de tiempo van normalmente al final de la frase, aunque también pueden ir al principio.

Example: On Sunday I was on the beach. (El domingo estuve en la playa.)

Example: My friends were in the library one hour ago. (Mis amigos estaban en la biblioteca hace una hora.)