Reference · module 8
Yesterday
Everything this module explains, on one page.
was and were
Say where you were and how something was.
- be in the past has two forms and no more: I was, he was, she was, it was — and you were, we were, they were.
- Note that I takes was, unlike in the present where it has its own am. In the past, I keeps company with he and she.
- Questions and negatives need no helper: Were you there? I wasn't at home. be looks after itself in every tense.
The mistake you are about to make
I were at home.
I was at home.
I has its own form in the present — am — so it looks like it should have one in the past too. It does not: I was, alongside he, she and it.
worked, lived, started
Say what you did, with the verbs that behave.
- Most verbs add -ed for the past: work becomes worked, start becomes started, watch becomes watched. And that form serves every subject.
- I worked, he worked, they worked. There is no s and no other change — the past tense is the one place English asks nothing of you.
- Spelling shifts a little: live becomes lived, study becomes studied, stop becomes stopped. A final consonant after a short vowel doubles.
The mistake you are about to make
He stoped.
He stopped.
A final consonant doubles after a short vowel: stopped, planned, shopped. The rule is about the sound, not the length of the word.
Did you…?
Ask and deny in the past.
- The past helper is did, for every subject: Did you see it? Did she call? One word covers all six.
- did already carries the past, so the main verb goes back to its plain form: Did you see it, never did you saw it.
- The negative is didn't, and the same rule applies: I didn't go, never I didn't went. The past appears exactly once in the sentence.
The mistake you are about to make
Did you saw it?
Did you see it?
The past wants to show up twice, once in did and once in the verb. English marks it exactly once: did carries it, the verb goes back to plain.
Yesterday, last week, ago
Say when something happened.
- yesterday, last night, last week, last year. last takes no preposition at all: last week, never in last week.
- ago goes AFTER the amount of time: two years ago, ten minutes ago. Putting it in front is one of the most visible learner mistakes.
- And these time words are what make the past tense necessary. I saw him yesterday needs the past; without yesterday the sentence could be about anything.
The mistake you are about to make
before two years
two years ago
Ago goes after the stretch of time rather than in front of it: two years ago. And last takes no preposition at all — last week, never in last week.