logounam logo-avi
logouapa

Interrogative words in simple past (who, what, where, how and when) Part 1

Presentation / Objective

In this unit you are going to read about Sophie’s birthday. Then, you are going to listen to Sophie and her cousin Candice talk about Sophie’s birthday and the activities she did on that day. Then, you are going to write questions and answers about Sophie. And finally, she’s going to ask you some questions and you are going to answer them.

Objective:

At the end of this topic you will express sentences to give and ask for information about people, places and events in the past in your daily life.

Content

To know someone better sometimes is a good idea to break the ice by asking some questions. If you want to know something about your friends, family members, colleagues, relatives or other people’s information about their past, this topic can help you to get that information.

Look at the following questions.

 

  • Who was your favorite superhero when you were a child?
  • Where was he from?
  • Who were his main enemies?
  • What was his story about?
  • How was your first class at college?

All the previous questions have to do with your past and with the history of your superhero. But… did you see how an open question in simple past is formed?

First of all we need a wh – question word (Click on the wh word to listen to its pronunciation)


  • Who
  • What
  • Where
  • How
  • When

Then, we need to add the past tense of the verb to be (Click on the wh word to listen to its pronunciation)


  • Was
  • Were

Remember that the form “was” is used for I, he, she and it. And the form “were” is used for you, we and they.

After that, we need a subject, a complement, and finally, the question mark.

Look at these examples:

Who

+

was

+

your best teacher

+

in secondary school

+

?

When

+

was

+

Julia’s

+

?

What

+

was

+

Marilyn Monroe’s

+

real name

+

?

Where

+

were

+

my keys

+

?

How

+

was

+

the soccer match

+

you went

+

?

 

After a question, we always get an answer.To answer, follow the next pattern

Subject

+

was(n’t)/were(n’t)

+

complement

 

So, check the answers to the possible answers to the previous questions.

Who was your best teacher in secondary school?
My best teacher at secondary school was Mr. Benitez. It wasn’t Mr.Gordon.

When was Julia’s birthday?
Her birthday was last Friday. It wasn’t last Thursday.

What was Marilyn Monroe’s real name?
Her real name was Norma Jean Baker.It wasn’t Hellena Parker.

Where were my keys?
Your keys were on the table. They weren’t in my purse.

How was the soccer match you went?
It was boring. It wasn’t exciting.

So, now that you have checked the previous information, let’s start the exercises of this topic.

Reading

Activity 1.

It was Sophie´s birthday

Do you like birthdays? Read the text about Sophie’s birthday. In this exercise you are going to apply your abilities in reading comprehension with the topic of wh questions, which you had already checked previously. In this exercise you are going to match each question to its respective answer.

Drag the different elements from the left column to the appropriate space in the right column. You have two attempts to answer every item. You can know your score at the end of the exercise.

mujer soplando velas en un pastel

Profivideos. (2015). Cumpleaños, Pastel, Velas. [Fotografía] Recuperado de https://pixabay.com/es/cumplea%C3%B1os-pastel-velas-947438/

Listening

Activity 2.

It was excellent

Sophie is talking on the phone to her cousin, Candice. This time Candice wants to know how was Sophie’s birthday.

Click on the image to listen to Sophie talk to her cousin Candice about her birthday. Drag the words in the box to their respective place to complete the conversation between them, using the information given about the wh- questions.

Drag the different options to the appropriate spaces to complete the sentences. You have two attempts to answer the exercise. You can know your score at the end of the exercise.

mujer hablando por celular

Unsplash.(2016). Niña, Persona, Mujeres. [Fotografía]. Recuperado de https://pixabay.com/es/ni%C3%B1a-persona-mujeres-joven-1245713/

Writing

Activity 3.

Sophie´s Biograph

mujer escribiendo sobre papel

Goodman, L. (2014).Niño, Por escrito, escritor, Diario de papel, [Fotografía]. Recuperado de https://pixabay.com/es/ni%C3%B1o-por-escrito-escritor-diario-360791/

It’s time to know more about Sophie! Read Sophie’s biography. After you read it, you will make the appropriate questions to each answer that is going to be presented to you through a text on line.

To post your contribution, click on the Add assignment button. A word processor will appear and you can type your activity or answer. Once you finished, save your work by clicking on the Save changes button

Sophie was born in Cincinnati
Sophie was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.A. on February 15th 1992. She was with her grandparents when she was a baby because her parents were working in Chicago. When she was six she started to study elementary school. At that age she was shy, she was a little
heavy and she was very smart, well, she has been smart all her life. He continued studying during more than ten years, and now she is a journalist. She writes for the Cincinnati Herald. She remembers her first article was not so good, but she has been improving since then.

Speaking

Activity 4.

Police and Thieves

When you were a child you played a game in which you were asked questions. So, let’s remember those days, but now Sophie wants to play with you. Now, she’s the police officer and you are the thief. She wants to ask you some questions. Answer them, record them and send them to your assessor.

Record your answer in your computer or in your cell phone. Save your answers, and once you finish send the file to your assessor.

 mujer de pie

Elanusa. (2016). La moda, Prendas de vestir, Mujeres. [Fotografía]. Recuperado de https://pixabay.com/es/la-moda-mujer-prendas-de-vestir-1623092/

Reference

Basics references

Thornbury, S. (2004). Natural Grammar. United Kingdom: Oxford.
Azar, B. and Hagen, S. (2009). Understanding and Using English Grammar. United Kingdom: Pearson Longman.

Complementary

www.cuaed.unam.mx/english_media
www.ego4u.com