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Holiday experiences: past tense and "didn't"
Writing about a past holiday is a guaranteed exam task. You need a bank of past tense verbs and one way to say what you didn't do.
Key past tense verbs
Saying "didn't"
Put ما before a past tense verb: ما ذَهَبْتُ = I didn't go. ما زُرْنا المَتْحَف = We didn't visit the museum.
Time phrases: في الصَّيْفِ الماضي (last summer), في السَّنةِ الماضِية (last year), أَمْسِ (yesterday), لِمُدّةِ أُسْبوع (for a week), قَبْلَ سَنَتَيْن (two years ago).
Time phrases: في الصَّيْفِ الماضي (last summer), في السَّنةِ الماضِية (last year), أَمْسِ (yesterday), لِمُدّةِ أُسْبوع (for a week), قَبْلَ سَنَتَيْن (two years ago).
Opinions about the past
كانَتِ العُطْلةُ رائِعةً = The holiday was great. كانَ الفُنْدُقُ مُريحًا = The hotel was comfortable.
أَعْجَبَني الطَّعامُ كَثيرًا = I really liked the food (literally: the food pleased me).
أَعْجَبَني الطَّعامُ كَثيرًا = I really liked the food (literally: the food pleased me).
Translate: Last summer I travelled to Jordan and I visited Petra.
- Last summer: في الصيف الماضي.
- I travelled: سافرتُ, to Jordan: إلى الأردن.
- I visited: زرتُ; Petra: البتراء.
Answer: في الصيف الماضي سافرتُ إلى الأردن وزرتُ البتراء.
I-form past verbs: سافرتُ، زرتُ، اشتريتُ، رأيتُ، أكلتُ. ما + past = didn't: ما ذهبتُ. Time phrases: في الصيف الماضي، أمس، لمدة أسبوع. أعجبني = I liked.
The interactive lesson includes the diagrams for this topic.
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