Once upon a time, there was a poor farmer.
Aesop’s Fables · Part 2 · The past simple: was, were and regular verbs
The Goose That Laid the Golden Eggs
Was, were, walked, looked, wanted: the grammar for telling a story about yesterday, with a poor farmer and a very special goose.
🪿 Play the story too: in the gamebook, you are the Farmer.Play the gamebook →
SOPHIA
PHILO
Once upon a time. The past!
The fable
After Aesop
Once upon a time, there was a poor Farmer. His house was small, and his clothes were old.
One morning, he walked to his goose’s nest. There was an egg in it. He looked at the egg. It was gold!
Every morning, the Goose laid one golden egg. The Farmer sold the eggs, and he was rich.
But he wasn’t happy. He wanted more. “There is a lot of gold inside that goose,” he said. So he opened the Goose.
There was no gold inside. And now there were no more golden eggs.
Greedy people often lose everything.
Was and were
DEMETRIA
The Farmer was poor. His clothes were old.
SOPHIA
Yes. In the past, am and is become was; are becomes were. I was, he was, she was, it was. You were, we were, they were. Negative: wasn’t, weren’t.
Regular verbs: -ed
MARCOS
He walked, he looked, he wanted. Easy!
SOPHIA
Easy, Marcos! Regular verbs add -ed: walk → walked, look → looked, want → wanted. Verbs with -e add only -d: like → liked. Short verbs double: stop → stopped.
Questions with was and were
PHILO
Was the egg gold? Yes, it was!
SOPHIA
With was / were, questions are easy: Was she special? Were they rich? Short answers: Yes, she was. No, they weren’t.
Sophia’s summary
| Form | Use | From the fable |
|---|---|---|
| was | I / he / she / it in the past | The Farmer was poor. |
| were | you / we / they in the past | His clothes were old. |
| wasn’t / weren’t | negative | He wasn’t happy. |
| walk → walked | regular verbs: + -ed | He walked to the nest. |
| stop → stopped | short verbs double the consonant | He stopped. |
Practice
Answer all the questions, then press “Check my answers”. You can try again as many times as you like.
A · Choose the best answer
Choose the right word.
1. The Goose ___ white.
2. The eggs ___ gold.
3. Yesterday he ___ to the market.
4. He ___ happy. He wanted more.
5. ___ the Goose special?
6. Spelling: stop → ___
B · Complete the sentence
Write the missing word or words.
7. The Farmer at the golden egg.
8. We very happy yesterday.
9. The neighbour all the gold.
10. the eggs big? Yes, they were.
C · Right or wrong?
Is the sentence correct English?
11. “The Farmer were poor.”
12. “They walked to the market.”
13. “She was not happy.”
Now be the Farmer yourself. Will you be happy with one egg a day?Play the gamebook →