The verb ‘to be ( am, is, are )’ has two forms in the past; was and were.
[table]
Present |Past
am, is | was
are | were
[/table]
[table]
Subject |To Be
I |was
You |were
He |was
She |was
It |was
We |were
You |were
They |were
[/table]
Using the verb ‘to be’ in the simple past tense:
POSITIVE FORM (+) : Subject + TO BE ( was/were ) +…
NEGATIVE FORM (-) : Subject + TO BE ( was/were ) + NOT + …
QUESTION FORM (?) : TO BE ( was/were ) + Subject + …
NEGATIVE QUESTION FORM (?) : TO BE ( was/were ) + NOT + Subject + …
SHORT ANSWER FORMS : ( + / – ) : YES / NO + Subject + TO BE ( was/were ) or TO BE ( was/were ) + NOT
[table]
POSITIVE (+) | NEGATIVE (-) | POSITIVE QUESTION (?) | NEGATIVE QUESTION (?)
He was in the garden |He was not ( wasn’t) in the garden |Was he in the garden |Was not ( Wasn’t ) he in the garden
She was in the garden |She was not ( wasn’t) in the garden |Was she in the garden |Was not ( Wasn’t ) she in the garden
It was in the garden |It was not ( wasn’t) in the garden |Was it in the garden |Was not ( Wasn’t ) it in the garden
I was in the garden |I was not ( wasn’t) in the garden |Was I in the garden |Was not ( Wasn’t ) I in the garden
You were in the garden |You were not ( weren’t ) in the garden |Were you in the garden |Were not ( Weren’t ) you in the garden
We were in the garden |We were not ( weren’t ) in the garden |Were we in the garden |Were not ( Weren’t ) we in the garden
They were in the garden |They were not ( weren’t ) in the garden |Were they in the garden |Were not ( Weren’t ) they in the garden
[/table]
Short answers with to be:
[table]
POSITIVE SHORT ANSWER |NEGATIVE SHORT ANSWER
Yes, he was. |No, he wasn’t.
Yes, she was. |No, she wasn’t.
Yes, it was. |No, it wasn’t.
Yes, I was. |No, I wasn’t.
Yes, you were. |No, you weren’t.
Yes, we were. |No, we weren’t.
Yes, they were. |No, they weren’t.
[/table]
Examples:
- The bus was so crowded. I had to get off the bus early.
- The movie wasn’t exciting. Everybody was bored.
- You weren’t late. Actually you came 5 minutes early.
- My father was not sure exactly what the car’s problem was.
- We were good at basketball. We won all the matches last year.
- I wasn’t in Egypt yesterday.
- Her effort was admirable.
- It was cold.
- Susan was quite shy when she was a child.
- Weren’t you hungry?
- The show was impressive.
- We weren’t late.
- Was he sick?
- I wasn’t hungry.
- The lesson wasn’t interesting.
- Was not she the girl we had seen before in London?
- He wasn’t a police.
- We were angry.
- The child was so hungry.
- Were you tired?
- Who were you?
- Why was she angry?
- I was a primary school students last year.
- They weren’t at home last week.
Notes:
Do not forget to pay attention to use of some subject pronouns ( such as I, You ) while answering questions.
B: No, you weren’t. / Yes, you were.
B: No, you weren’t sleepy yesterday. / Yes, you were sleepy yesterday.A: Were you at home last Sunday?
B: No, I wasn’t or No, we weren’t. / Yes, I was or Yes, we were.
B: No, I wasn’t at home last Sunday or No, we weren’t at home last Sunday.
B: Yes, I was at home last Sunday or Yes, we were at home last Sunday.
Notes:
We can also use a question word (Who, What, Why etc.) in past tense.
Question Words (who, what, why, etc.) + TO BE ( was/were ) + subject + …
Examples:
- Why was she late?
- Who was he?
- Where were they?
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Explanations on usage and examples of Simple Past tense . Improve your understanding and use English tenses more naturally!
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