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be: il Past simple Forma negativa
Forma affermativa I was you were he / she / it was we were you were they were
Estesa
Contratta
I was not you were not he / she / it was not we were not you were not they were not
I wasn’t you weren’t he / she / it wasn’t we weren’t you weren’t they weren’t
Il Past simple di be ha due voci: was per la prima e la terza persona singolari e were per la seconda persona singolare e per le persone plurali. Si usa per indicare azioni o situazioni accadute in un determinato momento del passato e concluse. In italiano può corrispondere al passato remoto, al passato prossimo oppure all’imperfetto: Yesterday I was at home all day. = Ieri sono stato a casa tutto il giorno. ‘Where were you?’ ‘I was in the bathroom!’ = “Dov’eri?” “Ero in bagno!” Ten years ago there was a cinema here. = Dieci anni fa qui c’era un cinema. Ricorda che: Spesso il Past simple è accompagnato da espressioni di tempo come yesterday, last night / week / month / year, a month / a year / three days ago, in 1955, when I was a child…: We were at the seaside last summer. = Eravamo al mare la scorsa estate. Forma interrogativa Was I... ? Were you... ? Was he... / she... ? / it... ? Were we... ? Were you... ? Were they... ?
Risposte brevi affermative Yes, you were. Yes, I was. Yes, he / she / it was. Yes, we were. Yes, you were. Yes, they were.
Risposte brevi negative No, you weren’t. No, I wasn’t. No, he / she / it wasn’t. No, we weren’t. No, you weren’t. No, they weren’t.
Le forme negativa e interrogativa e le risposte brevi seguono le stesse regole di formazione del verbo be al Present simple: They weren’t happy with the results. = Non erano felici dei risultati. Where were you yesterday morning? = Dov’eri ieri mattina? ‘Was she blonde when she was a child?’ ‘Yes, she was!’ = “Era bionda da bambina?” “Sì!” Ricorda che: In inglese l’italiano “nascere” è reso con il passato del verbo be + born: I was born in London. = Sono nato a Londra. They were born a century ago. = Sono nati un secolo fa.
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Completa le frasi con was o were. We were at the gym yesterday. 1 You _____ late. 2 There _____ lots of people at the shopping mall. 3 It _____ hot last month. 4 John _____ born on 8th September.
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I _____ very shy as a child. Ben and Sophie _____ in the park yesterday. It _____ a great film! Mary _____ at the bookshop with her friends. Step 1 – Recupero secondo quadrimestre