In today's lesson we are going to look at the verb "to be" in the past and how it is used in questions and answers.
Nella lezione di oggi analizzeremo il verbo "to be" al passato e come usarlo nelle domande e nelle risposte.
Let's look at a dialogue between a mum (M) and her son (S) about their days.
Diamo un'occhiata alla conversazione tra una madre (M) e suo figlio (S) sulla loro giornata.
M: Yes, she was but she had to cancel because she is not feeling well. Were you busy at school today?
Sì, ma ha dovuto cancellare l'impegno perché non si sente molto bene. Hai avuto molto da fare oggi a scuola?
S: No, they weren't because most of the class went on a science trip so just a few of us were at school.
No, perché la maggior parte della classe è andata a un'escursione di scienze per cui eravamo in pochi a scuola.
Here are some of the important rules to remember when using "was" or "were" in the past simple:
Ecco alcune delle regole più importanti quando si usa "was" o "where" al Past Simple:
* To form questions we change the position of "was" or "were" and the subject around, for example:
Per formulare le domande cambiamo la posizione di "was" o "were" e quella del soggetto, ad esempio:
Were you busy at school today?
* With questions containing the question words "which", "when", "where", "why", "how", ecc, "was" or "were" just follow the question word. For example:
Nelle domande che includono i pronomi interrogativi "which", "when", "where", "why", "how", et+cc., "was" o "were" si collocano subito dopo il pronome. Ad esempio:
How was your day at school?
* "Was" or "were" may be used in short answers.
For example, the possible short answers to the question " Were all your friends there today too?" are:
Ad esempio le possibili risposte brevi alla domanda "Were all your friends there today too?" sono:
- Yes, they were.
- No, they weren't / No, they were not (per dare enfasi)