Mesimi # 13

The past simple
E kryera e thjeshte

A   Introduction
A   Prezantimi

It all happened very quickly. The car came straight out of the side road, and the van went into the back off it. The van driver didn’t have a chance. It was the car driver’s fault.

Gjithcka ndodhi shume shpejt.  Makina erdhi  direkt nga rruga ne krah dhe furgoni  hyri ne pjesen e pasme te saj. Shoferi I furgonit nuk kishte asnje gabim. Ishte faji i shoferit te makines.

B   Positive forms
B   Format deftore

 A regular past form ends in ed
E shkuara e nje folje te rregullt mbaron me ed.
It happened very quickly.            The van crashed into the car.
I posted the letter yesterday.     We once owned a caravan.

Some verbs have an irregular past form.

Disa folje kane forme te crregullt te se shkuares.
The car came out of a side road.    Vicky rang earlier.           I won the game.
I had breakfast at six.                        The train left on time.     We took some photos.

The past simple is the same in all persons except in the past tense of be.

E kryera e thjeshte eshte e njejte per te gjitha foljet ne te gjitha vetat e zgjedhimit, pervec  foljes be.
I/he/she/it was                I was ill last week.
you/we/they/were         Those cakes were nice.

C   Negatives and questions
C   Forma negative dhe pyetese

We use did in negatives and questions.
Perdorim did per format negative dhe pyetese.

NEGATIVE                                                                                 QUESTION
I/you/he/she/it/we/they did not stop.                           Did I/you/he/she/it/we/they stop?
                                        OR  didn’t stop

The car did not stop.           The driver didn’t look to his right.
Makina nuk ndaloi.              Shoferi nuk shikoi ne te djathten e tij.
What did you tell the police? –Nothing.       Did you ring home? –Yes, I did.
Cfare I tregove policise? – Asgje.                    Telefonove ne shtepi? – Po, telefonova.

We do not use a a past form such as stopped or rang in negatives and questions.
Nuk perdorim   forma te se shkuares si  stopped ose rang ne pyetjet negative.
NOT   The car didn’t stopped   and  NOT   Did you rang?

We also use was and were in negative questions.
Gjithashtu perdorim was dhe were ne pyetjet negative.

NEGATIVE                                                           QUESTION
I/he/she/it was not or wasn’t                 was I/he/she/it?
you/we/they were or weren’t                        were you/we/they?

I wasn’t very well last week. The gates weren’t open.
Nuk isha shume mire javen e kaluar. Portat nuk ishin te hapura.
Where was your friend last night?  Was your steak nice?
Ku ishte shoku jot te premten e kaluar? Ishte I mire bifteku jot?

D Use
D Perdorimi

We use the past simple for something in the past which is finished.
E perdorim te kryeren e thjeshte per te shprehur nje veprim qe eshte perfunduar ne te shkuaren .
Emma passed her exam last year. We went to the theatre on Friday. Elvis Presley died in 1977.
Ema e kaloi provimin vjet. Ne shkuam ne teater te premten. Elvis Presley vdiq me 1977.
I knew what the problem was. When did you buy this car? –About three years ago.
E dija cili ishte problemi. Kur e bleve kete makine? – Rreth tre vjet me pare.

Exercises on simple past

1   Positive form ( B)

What did Claire do on holiday last month ? Look at her photos and use these words :

Go out dancing , have picnic , lie on the beach ,play volleyball , swim in the sea .

Ex :  She lay on the beach .

2    Positive form ( B) 

Complete the newspaper story about a fire . Put in the past simple forms of the verbs .

Two people died ( die ) in a fire in Ellis Street , Oldport yesterday morning . They  ………….  (be ) Herbert  and Molly Paynter ,a couple in their seventies . The fire ……………………….( start ) at 3:20 am .A neighbor , Mr. Aziz …………………..(see ) the flames and ……………………………(call) the fire brigade .He also …………………..(try) to get into the house and rescue his neighbor , but the heat ………………………………….(be ) too great . The fire brigade …………………….(arrive )in five minutes . Twenty fire –fighter ………………….(fight) the fire and finally …………………… (bring) it under control. Two fire-fighter …………………….(enter) the burning building but …………….(find) the couple dead.

3   Negative and questions ( C)

Complete the conversation . Put in the past simple negatives and questions .

Claire: Did you have (you/have) a nice weekend in Paris ?

Mark :  Yes , thanks . It was good . We looked around and then we saw a show .

……………………….(we /not/ try) to do too much ?

Claire :  What sights ……………………… ( you/ see) ?

Mark :  We had a look around the Louvre . ……………………………..(I/not /know) there was so much in there .

Claire :  And what show …………………………..(you /go/ to) ?

Mark :  Oh ,a musical . I forget the name . ………………………….( I /not/like) it .

Claire :  Oh , dear . And ………………………..( Sarah /enjoy) it ?

Mark :  No ,not really . But we enjoyed the weekend . Sarah did some shopping , too ,but ………………………… ( I/not /want) to go shopping .

Mesimi #  14 

The past continuous

A  Introduction

The past continuous means that at the time in the past we were in the middle of the action .
E shkuara e vazhduar na tregon se ne te shkuaren ishim ne mesin e kryerjes se nje veprimi.

B  Form

The past continuous  is the past tense of be + an ing - form .
E shkuara e vazhduar eshte koha e shkuar e foljes jam + nje forme –ing.

I / he /she/it  was playing                                                               QUESTION

You/ we /they were playing .                                               was I/he /she /it  playing ?

                                       NEGATIVE                                          were you/we /they playing ?

I/ he /she/it wasn’t playing.

You/we /they weren’t playing .

Soft music  was playing .                           People  were walking in the park .

I wasn’t dreaming . I really was in New York City.

Why did you give our secret away ? What were you thinking of ?

Was Matthew already waiting for you when you got there ?

C  Use

Read this conversations .
Lexoni  kete bisede.

Melanie : I rang at about three yesterday afternoon ,but you weren’t in . I didn’t know where you were .

David : Oh , I was helping Mike . We were repairing his car . It took ages . We were working on in all afternoon .

M : It was raining . I hope you weren’t doing it outside .

D: No ,we were in the garage . So I didn’t get wet .But I’m afraid I got oil all over my new trousers .

M : Why  were  you  wearing  your new trousers to repair a car .

D : I don’t know . I forgot I had them on .

It was raining at three o’clock means that at three o’clock we were in the middle of a period of rain . The rain began before three and stopped some time after three . We were working all afternoon  means that the action went on for the whole period . David is stressing the length of time that the work went on .

We use the continuous with actions . we do not normally use it with state verb . For states we use the past simple .
E perdorim te shkuaren e vazhduar per folje kalimtare. Normalisht nuk perdoret me folje jokalimtare. Per foljet jokalimtare perdorim te kryeren e thjeshte.

    I didn’t know where you were .   NOT  I wasn’t knowing  ….   

Exercises

1 Form (B)

Form proms using the phrases below.
Use these verbs: dance, drive, listen, watch, write
Use these phrases:  an essay, his taxi, in the street, television, to a band

 

2 Form (B)

Complete the conversation. Put in the past continuous forms.
Jessica :        I was looking ( I look) for you. Vicky. I’m afraid I’ve broken this dish.
Vicky:            Oh, no! What (1)                                                                (you /do)?
Jessica:         (2)                                                                                          ( I/ take) it into the kitchen.
                       I bumped into Emma. (3)                                                  (she/come) out just as
                       (4)                                                   (I/go) in.
Vicky:            I expect it was your fault. (5)                                                      (you/not/look) where
                       (6)                                                   (you/go)
Jessica:          Sorry. I’ll buy you another one as soon as I have some money.

Use (C)

What can you say in these situations? Add a sentence with the past continuous to say that an action lasted a long time.
You had to work yesterday. The work went on all day.
I was working all day.
1 You had to make phone calls. The calls went on all evening.

2 You had to wait in the rain. The wait lasted for half an hour.

3 You had to make sandwiches. This went on all afternoon.

4 You had to sit in traffic jams. You were there for two hours.

5 Your neighbour played loud music. This went on all night.