Formation (Bildung)
How do you form the simple past of regular verbs?
Lösung: verb + -ed
Erklärung: Regular verbs bekommen -ed: walk → walked.
Name two signal words for the simple past.
Finished past time → 'yesterday', 'last night/week/year', 'two days ago', 'in 2010'.
When do we use the simple past?
Use it for finished events with a clear past time: We arrived at 3 p.m. yesterday.
Fill in: Yesterday we ___ (play) football.
Signal 'yesterday' → simple past. Regular verb play → played.
Translate: Wir aßen gerade, als das Telefon klingelte.
We were eating when the phone rang.
What is the structure of the past progressive?
was/were + verb + -ing
Name two signal words for the past progressive.
Past progressive often with 'while/when' to show a background action in progress and a short interruption.
When do we use the past progressive?
Describes 'what was happening' at a past moment; often interrupted by a short simple past event.
Fill in: While she ___ (watch) TV, the phone rang.
While' shows background in progress → past progressive 'was watching'. Short event 'rang' stays simple past.
Translate: Bevor wir ins Kino gingen, hatten wir die Tickets gekauft.
Before we went to the cinema, we had bought the tickets.
Past perfect shows earlier action (had bought) before later past action (went).
How do you form the past perfect?
had + past participle (3rd form)
Name two signal words for the past perfect.
Past perfect marks an earlier past before another event: 'before', 'after', 'already', 'by the time', 'until'.
When do we use the past perfect?
Action completed before another past action.
The staff had prepared the rooms before we checked in.
Fill in: They ___ (already/leave) when we arrived.
had already left
Explanation (Erklärung): 'Already' + earlier-than-arrival → past perfect 'had left'.
Make a question: He had finished his homework before dinner.
Had he finished his homework before dinner?
Question in past perfect: invert 'had' → Had + subject + past participle.
Change into past progressive: She (to read) a book.
She was reading a book.
Which tense often uses since and for?
Present perfect links past and present: since + start point, for + duration.
Which combination shows a long action interrupted by a short one?
(Welche Kombination zeigt eine längere Handlung, die von einer kurzen unterbrochen wird?)
Background: past progressive; short event: simple past. Example: I was sleeping when the alarm rang.
Correct the mistake: We was singing a song.
We were singing a song.
Correct the mistake: She has went to the shop yesterday.
She went to the shop yesterday.
Time adverb 'yesterday' → simple past, not present perfect. Past of 'go' is 'went'. No 'has'.
Change into past perfect: We (to finish) dinner before he arrived.
We had finished dinner before he arrived.
Which tense fits with „by the time“?
'By the time' gives the later reference point. The earlier action takes past perfect: By the time we arrived, the train had left.
Which tense is usually the main tense in stories?
Narratives tell completed past events; simple past carries the storyline.
Fill in: I ___ (buy) a new jacket last weekend.
Last weekend' → simple past. Irregular past of 'buy' is 'bought'.
Complete: While the children ___ (play) outside, it ___ (start) to rain.
were playing / started
'While' → background action in past progressive 'were playing'; short event → simple past 'started'.