Le verbe être (to be) est le seul qui se conjugue au passé en anglais:
I was, You were, He/She/It was, We were, You were, They were.
Pour were ne prononcez pas le r. Dites plutôt Weuuu. écoutez:
Pour la forme négative on ajoute not que l’on contracte systématiquement:
I wasn’t, You weren’t, He/She/It wasn’t, We weren’t, You weren’t, They weren’t.
Pour les questions on inverse le sujet et le verbe.
Was I _______? Were you ________? Was he/she/it ________ ? Were we ________ ? Were you _______ ? Were they ________ ?
Et pour les questions ouvertes on ajoute where, when, why, who, how, … au début.
Where was I? (où en étais-je?) How were you? (comment étais tu?) Who was he? (Qui était-ce?)
C’est très important de s’habituer à manipuler le verbe être à toutes ces formes. Voici quelques exercices pour cela.
Exercice 1 complete with am, are, is, was or were.
1 Now I ___am___ at home. Yesterday I __was_____ at school.
2 We ___________ on holiday last week. We ___________ in Italy.
3 She __________ tired this morning, but now she __________ fine.
4 Where ___________ you yesterday? I __________ worried!
5 He _________ late this morning! He __________ often late.
6 Now we _________ on holiday. We __________ very happy!
7 It ________ sunny today… It ________ rainy last night.
8 When __________ you in Italy?
9 I __________ in Italy last month.
10 They __________ at the party on Saturday. Now they _________ tired.
Exercise 2 Answer the questions. (Pour rendre l’exercice plus difficile vous pouvez cacher les réponses.)
Answer : I ___was_______ in Paris.
Answer : I _____________ an English teacher.
Answer : It __________ great!!
Answer : She _________ in Italy.
She ___________ my sister!
Yes, we _________________ very late!
My name _________ Sir Lancelot of Camelot.
They ____________ in Spain.
We ____________ in Italy in 2008.
I _________ sleeping.
I __________ sleeping!
Exercice 3 complétez avec was, wasn’t, were ou weren’t
1 We ______________ fast but we ___________________ the winners.
2 I _____________ happy because I _____________ hungry!
3 They ______________ at the meeting because they ______________ in Italy.
4 Why ____________ you angry? Because he ______________ listening!
5 How _______________ the spaghetti? It ________________ delicious!
6 Where _____________ you yesterday? You ______________ at the meeting!
7 She ___________________ happy about the result. It ______________ very bad!
8 I _____________ joking, I _____________ serious.
9 The tea _____________ cold and the food ________________ bad. It ___________ a bad breakfast!
10 When I ______________ a child I lived in London. I _______________ like other French children.
Anglais in Antibes 