Lesson
Yesterday - The Past - General Statements
In daily conversation, talking about the past is done very frequently. Whenever you meet a friend, you always tell each other what you have been doing recently. Friends are always interested in each other so they want to know how you have been spending your time in the past.
Today's lesson is going to target past tense communication. This goes hand in hand with the last two lessons and changing a few words around can make a future or present tense sentence into a past tense sentence.
To begin, here are a couple of sentences that are common to say:
"I went to the airport yesterday."
"I met Bob last week."
"I was an hour late for my meeting."
"I went to the bus stop, but I was 30 seconds late. A person on the street told me the bus just went by."
"I completed that task this morning."
Speaking in the past requires past tense words. Let's take a closer examination for the sentences above.
Past Tense
Present Tense
Future Tense
Went
Go
Going to go
Met
Meet
Will meet
Was
Am
Going to be
Completed
Complete
Will complete
As you can see by some of the examples in the chart, some words change when speaking in the past tense.
Besides some words that change, many times a word with the letter 'd' or 'ed' at the end changes the word to past tense. Here are some examples:
"I was being polite so I opened the door for him."
"I stapled the papers together to keep them organized."
"The paper ripped on the bottom, so I taped them together."
"I switched the presents around because I found out Jane doesn't like red lipstick."
"I was very interested in the topic so I paid close attention."
The tricky part is to know when to add a 'd' to the end of a word to make it past tense. There are exceptions that can cause confusion, for example,
"I rode my bike to school." It would be incorrect to say, 'I rided...'
"I built the house from scratch." Incorrect way is to say, 'I builded...'
"I sat on the chair next to the emergency exit." Incorrect way is to say, 'sitted...'
So remember to use past tense words correctly or the other person might not understand what you are saying.
Yesterday - The Past - Questions and Answers
When asking questions about the past, you can ask questions like:
"How did you enjoy the movie?"
"What time did you get home last night?"
"How was your date with Jackie?"
"How was the traffic going to the airport?"
"What have you been up to?"
"What did you do last weekend?"
"How was the party?"
"How come you didn't come to class yesterday?"
"How did your presentation go?"
Here are some ways you can answer these types of questions. Remember to use past tense because these actions already occurred.
"How did you enjoy the movie?"
"It was a long movie, but overall, the movie was great."
"I really didn't like the movie. It was slow and boring."
"I enjoyed the movie so much that I saw it again."
"What time did you get home last night?"
"I got home at two in the morning."
"I didn't make it home until eleven last night."
"I made it home at midnight."
"How was your date with Jackie?"
"The date went so well. We had dinner at a seafood restaurant. And then we saw a movie together."
"I don't think it went too well. We hardly had anything to talk about. I really thought Jackie was bored to death."
"The date was alright. She called me this morning to go out again, but I haven't responded yet."
"What have you been up to?"
"I just graduated from school so I'm happy that I'm done."
"I met Jackie yesterday and we spent the evening together in a nice restaurant."
"The only thing I have done in the last three months is computer games."
"What did you do last weekend?"
"Last weekend, I visited my parents."
"I went golfing on Saturday. I shot a great score."
"I stayed home and watched TV all weekend long."
"How come you didn't come to class yesterday?"
"I was very sick yesterday."
"I missed the bus and by the time I got to campus, class was already over."
"I slept in because I didn't hear the alarm ring."
"How did your presentation go?"
"It went ok. A few of the people asked some tough questions, but overall it was good."
"I messed up so bad. I brought the wrong folder from my office so I didn't have any notes."
"It was the best presentation of the day. My boss told me I was organized, focused, and spoke clearly."
Yesterday - The Past - Example Conversation
Study some examples and then we will be at the practice session.
Person A: "Why didn't you come to my party last night?"
Person B: "I'm sorry I couldn't make it. I had to go visit my grandmother at the hospital."
Person A: "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. Is she doing ok?"
Person B: "They just completed a small operation and the doctors said she should recover."
Person A: "Did you get a chance to go to that new restaurant down the street?"
Person B: "Yeah. I ordered the special, but the server screwed up my order."
Person A: "That sucks. So what ended up happening?"
Person B: "They finally got my steak out, but it was overcooked. It was a terrible experience."
Person A: "What did you do last weekend?"
Person B: "I went on a date with Sammy."
Person A: "Really? How was it?"
Person B: "I couldn't ask for a better night. We talked all through out our two hour dinner, and then we sat by the river and cuddled in the night."
Person A: "Didn't you finish finals week?"
Person B: "Don't remind me. I think I failed most of the exams."
Person A: "Why did you do so terrible?"
Person B: "My mind just went blank. I think I overloaded my brain. I just couldn't concentrate during the exams."
Yesterday - The Past - Interactive Practice
1
A: "What did you do last night?"
B: "I met some friends and we had some drinks at a bar."
A: "Did you drink a lot?"
B: "I got so drunk that I don't remember how I got home."
A: "Why did you drink so much?"
B: "I was so depressed. I just wanted to forget about everything."
2
A: "How was the airplane ride?"
B: "It was a twelve hour flight. It was so boring. I tried to sleep but it was too uncomfortable on the plane."
A: "How about the movies they play on international flights?"
B: "I saw both movies they played. I was just unlucky?"
A: "Did you take a book with you?"
B: "I accidentally packed it with my luggage that I checked in."
3
A: "What did you do last weekend?"
B: "I went to a party."
A: "How was the party?"
B: "It was way too crowed and the food was gone before I got there."
A: "What time did you get home?"
B: "It was pretty boring so I left at ten and got home before eleven."
