Past Tense

The verb “want” requires an object:

• I wanted some coffee. (The word “coffee” is an object.)
• He wanted a new car. (The word “car” is an object.)
• We wanted a vacation. (The word “vacation” is an object.)

Past Tense – negative

Remember: You must have an object after the verb “want.”

• You didn’t want the job.
• My dog didn’t want to stay home. (The infinitive, “to stay” functions as the object in this sentece.)
• The kids didn’t want the brocolli.

These questions are asked in the past tense:

• What did you want?
• Did they want any more juice?
• Did your neighbor want any help?
• When did he want to eat?
• When did you want to leave for the airport? (This question and the one before it are in the past tense, but they refer to a future event.)

Here are some examples:

A: What did he want? B: He wanted his bottle. Now he’s happy!
A: What did she want to do when she was a little girl? B: She wanted to become a ballerina, and now she is.
A: What did they want to do yesterday? B: They wanted to go skating, so they went to the park and skated around the lake.

Quiz

Directions: Fill in the blanks to make the past tense with the helping verb (did) and the main verb (want).
1- 10 Past Tense:
What _______ they _________ ?
They ________ a ride.
What ________ he ________?
He _________ something to drink.
What ________ you ________ to do?
I ________ to see a movie.
We _________ __________ that house. (negative)
The childen _________ __________ to leave. (negative)
Why _________ she _________ the job? (negative)
My mother _______  ________ me to do that. (negative)

You get total points

did,want,wanted,did,want,wanted,did,want,wanted,didn’t,want,didn’t,want,didn’t,want,didn’t,want