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A park on top of a freeway? The past simple passive with was and were

This B1 ESL lesson plan teaches the past simple passive through Freeway Park in Seattle, known as the first park built over a freeway.

Grammar
Was or were + past participle for every person (It was built over a freeway.), negatives, questions with was before the subject (When was it opened?) and by + the doer (Who was it designed by?).
Topic
Seattle's park on a lid over Interstate 5, opened in 1976, with words such as freeway, lane, landscape architect and drinking fountain.
Activities
The park's story page to read, a walking tour and a listener's question to hear, self-checking drills, a tour sign-up chat and open boxes.

What's inside

  1. Chapter 1Warm-up: parks, fountains and freeways

    • PictureUnlock
    • Spin the wheel and answerSpin the wheelUnlock
    • Study the words: a park in the cityVocabularyTry it
    • Look at the pictures and choose the wordChoose by pictureUnlock

  2. Chapter 2Let's read: a park on a lid

    • Look at the photo: a park over a freewayPictureUnlock
    • Read the park's story pageArticleUnlock
    • Read and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock
    • Read again and choose the correct answerQuizUnlock

  3. Chapter 3Let's listen: a walk above the traffic

    • Listen to Riley and KennyListeningTry it
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Listen and choose the correct answerQuizUnlock
    • Listen to the Listener's Take: Sherman's messageListeningUnlock
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Listen and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock

  4. Chapter 4Grammar: It was built over a freeway

    • Study the scheme: the past simple passiveGrammar schemeTry it
    • Choose the correct optionChoose the optionUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps: use was or were and the past participleFill in the gapsTry it
    • Fill in the table: make negatives and questionsFill in the tableUnlock
    • Choose the correct sentenceQuizUnlock
    • Put the words in the correct order: questionsUnjumbleUnlock

  5. Chapter 5Let's talk: sign up for a tour

    • Choose the right replies: sign up for a walking tourChatTry it
    • Open a box and answerOpen the boxUnlock

  6. Chapter 6Homework

    • Match the words and the meaningsMatchUnlock
    • Unscramble the wordsAnagramUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps with the lesson's wordsFill in the gapsUnlock
    • Find the matching pairs: words and meaningsMemory gameUnlock
    • Choose the correct option: new sentencesChoose the optionUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps: use the past simple passiveFill in the gapsUnlock
    • Put the words in the correct orderUnjumbleUnlock
    • Choose the correct question for each answerQuizUnlock
    • Choose the correct option: Kenny's tour flyerChoose the optionUnlock
    • Drag the words into the gaps: Riley answers ShermanDrag and dropUnlock

32 exercises in 6 chapters. Start a 7-day free trial to open all of them, copy any part into your own lessons, and teach the lesson live.

Vocabulary

12 words and phrases from the lesson, each with a picture and audio in edio.

+9 more with pictures and audio in the lessonMore words

  • freeway
  • lane
  • landscape architect
  • archive
  • evergreen
  • drinking fountain
  • restroom
  • walking tour
  • railing

Grammar: the past simple passive

The past simple passive tells what happened to something: The park was opened on July 4, 1976. It is was or were + the past participle, the present passive of lesson 5 moved into the past. With a park whose story is full of plans, designers and dates, learners ask when things were done and who did them.

The past simple passive

was / were + past participle: say what happened to something in the past. Add by + the doer when it's important.

Was or were + past participle

Change the present passive's am and is to was, and are to were: It was renamed in 2008. Use were with you, we and they: The benches were made of wood, not was made. The negatives are wasn't and weren't: It wasn't built in a day.

Every person

SubjectStatementNegativeQuestion
II was invited to the tour.I wasn't (was not) invited.Was I invited?
youYou were given a map.You weren't (were not) given a map.Were you given a map?
heHe was asked a question.He wasn't asked a question.Was he asked a question?
sheShe was shown the Canyon.She wasn't shown the Canyon.Was she shown the Canyon?
it (the park)It was built over a freeway.It wasn't built in a day.When was it built?
weWe were told a fun fact.We weren't told the answer.Were we told the answer?
they (our photos)They were taken at the Canyon.They weren't taken at night.Where were they taken?

From now to then: was or were?

You know the present passive: The park is called Jim Ellis Freeway Park. For the past, change am / is to was and are to were: It was renamed in 2008. Use was with I, he, she and it, and were with you, we and they: The benches were made of wood. (Not: The benches was made of wood.)

Questions: was or were before the subject

Put was or were before the subject: Was it opened in 1976? Were the fountains turned on? No, they weren't. A question word goes first: When was the park opened? When it was opened? is wrong, and so is Was opened it?

(question word)was / weresubjectpast participle(by)?

When was the park opened?

Who was it designed by?

Where were the benches installed?

By + the doer, and by in questions

The park was designed by Halprin's firm names the doer with by; add it only when it's new or important. In a question, by goes at the end: Who was it designed by?, not Who designed it by? Keep was: Our library was opened by the mayor.

Active or passive?

Active: the doer is the subject

  • Halprin's firm designed the park.
  • The city chose Halprin's firm in 1970.
  • A man from Baltimore suggested the idea.

Passive: the thing is the subject

  • The park was designed by Halprin's firm.
  • Halprin's firm was chosen in 1970.
  • The idea was suggested by a man from Baltimore.

by + the doer

Add by + the doer only when it's new or important: The park was designed by Lawrence Halprin's firm. In a question, by goes at the end: Who was it designed by? (Not: Who designed it by?) And no by without was / were: Our library was opened by the mayor. (Not: Our library opened by the mayor.)

Participles, and when open needs no was

Regular verbs add -ed: opened, designed, installed, announced. Irregular ones have their own form: built, chosen, made, given, taken, kept, written. The park opened in 1976 is right too, because open can work without an object.

Past participles

Regular verbs add -ed (or -d after e): opened, designed, installed, announced, renamed. Learn the irregular ones: build → built, choose → chosen, make → made, give → given, take → taken, keep → kept, write → written. It was built (not: It was build). Careful: “The park opened in 1976” is right too, because open can work without an object.

Common mistakes

  • When it was opened?

    When was it opened?

    was / were comes before the subject

  • Who designed it by?

    Who was it designed by?

    by goes with was / were + past participle

  • Was opened it in 1976?

    Was it opened in 1976?

    was + subject + past participle

  • They was built in 1976.

    They were built in 1976.

    they → were

At Freeway Park

  • Interstate 5 was finished through Seattle in 1966.
  • Halprin's book was noticed by Seattle officials.
  • The park was designed by Lawrence Halprin's firm.
  • When was the park opened? On July 4, 1976.
  • The fountains were meant to help block the traffic noise.
  • Were the fountains turned on for Riley? No, they weren't.

More lessons on this grammar: Passive voice lessons and exercises

Try the past simple passive exercises

Try them yourself: these are the same exercises your students do in edio.

More exercises

What's in the lesson

  • 17 auto-checked exercises
  • 6 games
  • 1 article
  • 1 grammar scheme
  • 1 set of word cards
  • 2 audio clips
  • 2 pictures
  • 2 transcripts

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

  • say what was done in the past with was or were + past participle: Interstate 5 was finished through Seattle in 1966. The plans were announced in 1969.
  • make negatives and questions: It wasn't built in a day. Were the fountains turned on? No, they weren't.
  • ask about the doer with by at the end: Who was the park designed by? It was designed by Lawrence Halprin's firm.
  • ask about a place before a tour: When was it opened? How was the traffic noise blocked? Were the first benches made of wood?

Lesson 6 is the second lesson of Cities of tomorrow, unit 2 of English B1.2 · Changemakers. It moves lesson 5's present simple passive into the past and builds on was, were and was born from A2.1 lesson 5 and on the irregular past forms of A2.1 lesson 2. Lesson 7 puts the passive after modals such as can and must. A park on a lid over a freeway has a history of things that were planned, designed, built and named, so the past passive tells it best.

Students spin a wheel of questions about parks, busy roads and old buildings, then learn twelve words, from open and suggest to railing, with pictures and audio. They read the park's story page, from a 1955 letter from Baltimore to the names on the list, then hear Riley take a walking tour with Kenny, a volunteer guide, and Sherman from Washington ask about her favorite park, both AI-voiced. The scheme leads into five self-checking drills, one of them a table that turns statements into negatives and questions. Students then book Kenny's Saturday tour in a chat and open boxes about places in their own town.

All ten homework tasks check themselves: a match, an anagram, a gap-fill and a memory game for the words, then a choice of forms, past passive gaps, word order, a quiz that pairs answers with the right questions, Kenny's tour flyer with options to choose and Riley's answer to Sherman with words to drag in.

Grammar:
past simple passive · was / were + past participle · past passive questions · by + the doer
Topic:
Freeway Park · Seattle · Washington · Interstate 5 · parks · cities of tomorrow · landscape architecture · Stories That Travel

Teaching tips

  • Ask about a local landmark first: When was it built? Who was it designed by? Students may not know the answers, but they hear the two questions the whole lesson practices.
  • Make the story page a timeline: students put 1955, 1966, 1969, 1970, 1974, 1976 and 2008 on a line, each with a passive sentence such as Interstate 5 was finished in 1966.
  • Pause the walking tour after each question Riley asks, and let students guess Kenny's answer first: It was designed by…, It was opened on…
  • Hold a mini press conference: one student plays a tour guide like Kenny, and the class asks past passive questions such as When was the lid started? and Which names were considered?

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The whole course: English B1.2 · Changemakers

32 lessons for adults at B1 in American English, about people and ideas that changed things: start-ups, future cities, food, memory, customs, art, volunteers and adventure. The podcast team of English B1.1 is back for a season called Changemakers. Learners use the second conditional, the passive, reported speech, the past perfect, relative clauses and verb patterns, and the practice exercises check themselves.See the course

  1. Unit 1 Start-up stories

    the second conditional, If I were you, the first vs the second conditional, also, too, as well and besides

    1. Lesson 1The garage where Silicon Valley beganThe second conditional for imagined situations
    2. Lesson 2Would you sell lemonade to save bees?Second conditional questions and If I were you
    3. Lesson 3Pitch it to the Sharks!First vs second conditional: a real plan or a dream?
    4. Lesson 4A bakery that hires anyone?Adding ideas: also, too, as well, either and besides

  2. Unit 2 Cities of tomorrow

    the passive in the present simple and the past simple, with modals, and in the present perfect and present continuous

    1. Lesson 5Can you cross a city without going outside?The present simple passive
    2. Lesson 6 · you're hereA park on top of a freeway?The past simple passive
    3. Lesson 7Can a desert city catch the rain?The passive with modals
    4. Lesson 8Can an old railroad become a park?The present perfect and present continuous passive

  3. Unit 3 Food for the future

    comparative and superlative adverbs, the future passive, verbs with prepositions, phrasal verbs with up, away and out

    1. Lesson 9Why did Carver tell farmers to plant peanuts?Comparative and superlative adverbs
    2. Lesson 10Lettuce from space?The future passive with will be
    3. Lesson 11Why do corn, beans and squash grow together?Verbs with dependent prepositions
    4. Lesson 12What happens to dining-hall leftovers?Phrasal verbs with up, away and out

  4. Unit 4 Memory and learning

    reported statements with say and tell, tense changes, time and place words, reported questions, requests and commands

    1. Lesson 13Can you train your memory?Reported statements with say and tell
    2. Lesson 14He got better but never rememberedReported statements about the past
    3. Lesson 15Can a TV show teach the alphabet?Reported questions
    4. Lesson 16Can you learn a new skill at 70?Reported requests and commands

  5. Unit 5 Customs and manners

    degree adverbs such as quite and pretty, the past perfect, the past perfect vs the past simple, make vs do

    1. Lesson 17To tip or not to tip?Adverbs of degree before adjectives and adverbs
    2. Lesson 18They'd already started without me!The past perfect: had + past participle
    3. Lesson 19What should you do at a powwow?Past perfect vs past simple
    4. Lesson 20How do you accept a lei?Make vs do: collocations to learn

  6. Unit 6 Art and design

    relative clauses with whose, non-defining relative clauses, relative clauses without a pronoun, when and why

    1. Lesson 21Art that moves in the airRelative clauses with whose
    2. Lesson 22A heart that sells a stateNon-defining relative clauses
    3. Lesson 23What would you paint on a city wall?Relative clauses without who, which or that
    4. Lesson 24Why does the sign say Hollywood?Relative adverbs: when, why and where

  7. Unit 7 Volunteers and changemakers

    verb + -ing or to, -ing as a subject and after prepositions, stop, remember, try and forget, prefer and would rather

    1. Lesson 25A day on, not a day off?Verb + -ing or verb + to
    2. Lesson 26The house that welcomed a neighborhoodGerunds as subjects and after prepositions
    3. Lesson 27A walk that lasted 24 hoursStop, remember, forget and try + to or -ing
    4. Lesson 28Head, heart, hands and healthPrefer, would rather and would prefer

  8. Unit 8 Adventure and challenge

    possessive 's vs of, must and can't for deduction, might, may and could for possibility, the meanings of get

    1. Lesson 29Could you climb a fourteener?Possessive 's, s' or of
    2. Lesson 30It must be here somewhere!Must and can't for deduction
    3. Lesson 31How did Houdini get out?Might, may and could for possibility
    4. Lesson 32A capital with no road inThe meanings of get

Questions about this lesson

What is the past simple passive?
The past simple passive is was or were + the past participle, for what happened to something in the past: Freeway Park was built over a freeway. The plans were announced in 1969. The thing comes first, and by + the doer is added only when it matters. The B1 lesson A park on top of a freeway? on edio.ai teaches it with Seattle's Freeway Park.
How do you make questions in the past simple passive?
Put was or were before the subject: Was it opened in 1976? Were the fountains turned on? A question word goes first: When was the park opened? How was the noise blocked? To ask about the doer, put by at the end: Who was it designed by? Short answers are Yes, it was and No, they weren't.
What are some examples of the past simple passive?
From A park on top of a freeway?: Interstate 5 was finished through Seattle in 1966. In November 1970, Halprin's firm was chosen. The fountains were meant to help block the traffic noise. The name Freeway Park was made official in January 1976. In 2008, the park was renamed Jim Ellis Freeway Park. Each one tells what was done, not who did it.
What's the difference between the past simple and the past simple passive?
The active makes the doer the subject: Halprin's firm designed the park. The passive starts with the thing: The park was designed by Halprin's firm. Both are past, but the passive needs was or were. Some verbs, like open, work both ways: The park opened in 1976 and The park was opened in 1976 are both right, as a tip in A park on top of a freeway? explains.
Is it "Who designed it by?" or "Who was it designed by?"
It's Who was it designed by? In the passive, was comes before the subject and by goes at the end. In the active, there's no by at all: Who designed it? The drills in A park on top of a freeway? catch three more slips: When it was opened?, It was build and They was built.
What is Freeway Park in Seattle?
Freeway Park is a park on a lid over Interstate 5 in downtown Seattle, Washington, known as the first park built over a freeway. It was designed by Lawrence Halprin's firm, with Angela Danadjieva as the main designer, and it opened on July 4, 1976. Its plazas have concrete planters, evergreen plants and water, from a calm pool to a waterfall fountain called the Canyon.
Who designed Freeway Park?
The park was designed by Lawrence Halprin's firm, Lawrence Halprin & Associates of San Francisco, which the city chose in November 1970; Angela Danadjieva was the project manager and main designer. Seattle officials had noticed Halprin's 1966 book Freeways. In 2008, the park was renamed Jim Ellis Freeway Park, after a local leader who supported it, as the story page in A park on top of a freeway? tells.
How do I teach the past simple passive to B1 students?
Start from a building with a story: show the school or a local park and ask When was it built? and Who was it designed by? Then show how the present passive moves into the past: is becomes was, and are becomes were. A park on top of a freeway? on edio.ai moves from the park's story and a walking tour to the scheme and five drills.
What's a good game for practicing the past simple passive?
Try a guessing quiz about famous places: teams write clues like It was built over a freeway or It was designed by a landscape architect, and the other teams guess. The open boxes in A park on top of a freeway? make it personal: Talk about a great present you were given. Who was it from?
How do you practice the past simple passive one-to-one?
Interview the student about a place they know: when it was built, what was changed and what was added later. The chat in A park on top of a freeway?, a B1 lesson on edio.ai, lets the student book Kenny's walking tour of Freeway Park by asking past passive questions, and every wrong reply hides a passive mistake.
What's good homework for practicing the past simple passive?
Answers that need the right question make good practice: It was opened on July 4, 1976 needs When was the park opened? That quiz is one of ten self-checking homework tasks in A park on top of a freeway? on edio.ai, with past passive gaps, word order, Kenny's tour flyer and Riley's answer to a listener.
Are there interactive exercises for the past simple passive?
Yes: a gap-fill, a table and a chat, all self-marking. Three parts of A park on top of a freeway?, a B1 lesson on edio.ai, play on this page without an account: Riley's walking tour with Kenny, a gap-fill of was or were + participle and the tour sign-up chat. Sign up for the rest.
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