be: Simple past
Affirmative |
---|
I was |
you were |
he was |
she was |
it was |
we were |
you were |
they were |
1 We use was with singular pronouns and singular nouns. We use were with plural pronouns and plural nouns.
2 We do not contract was and were.
3 We use the simple past to talk about situations in the past.
It was sunny on Sunday.
We were at band practice yesterday.
Luis was overweight when he was young.
be: Simple past
Negative | |
---|---|
Long form | Short form |
I was not | I wasn't |
you were not | you weren't |
he was not | he wasn't |
she was not | she wasn't |
it was not | it wasn't |
we were not | we weren't |
you were not | you weren't |
they were not | they weren't |
1 We make the negative with was / were + not.
I wasn’t at home.
You weren’t at band practice.
2 We can use the short forms wasn’t and weren’t.
I wasn’t at home.
You weren’t at band practice.
3 We usually use the short forms wasn’t and weren’t in spoken English, and when we write e-mails, messages, and letters to friends.
Past time expressions |
---|
yesterday morning / afternoon / evening |
last night / Monday / week / month / summer / Christmas / year |
a year / a month / a week / two days/ twenty minutes ago |
in 2013 / June / the 1990s / the twentieth century |
1 We use these time expressions to say when something happened in the past.
Yesterday morning, I was late for school.
Last month, we were in Spain.
We were at school twenty minutes ago.
2 We can put the time expressions at the start or end of the sentence. The meaning does not change.
Yesterday, there was a concert at our school.
There was a concert at our school yesterday.
be: Simple past
Questions | Short answers | |
---|---|---|
Affirmative | Negative | |
Was I? | Yes, you were. | No, you weren't. |
Were you? | Yes, I was. | No, I wasn't. |
Was he? | Yes, he was. | No, he wasn't. |
Was she? | Yes, she was. | No, she wasn't. |
Was it? | Yes, it was. | No, it wasn't. |
Were we? | Yes, you were. | No, you weren't. |
Were you? | Yes, we were. | No, we weren't. |
Were they? | Yes, they were. | No, they weren't. |
1 We put was or were before the subject to make a question.
Was it on TV last night?
Were you at band practice yesterday?
2 We answer questions with Yes + subject pronoun + was or were. The affirmative short answer has no short form.
Were you at the concert? Yes, I was.
Was he friendly? Yes, he was.
3 We answer questions with No + subject pronoun + wasn’t or weren’t. The negative short answer has a short form.
Was she American? No, she wasn’t.
Were they in the classroom? No, they weren’t.
be: Simple past
Question word | was / were |
---|---|
When | were you born? |
Why | was he late for practise? |
Where | were you yesterday? |
Who | was the blond woman? |
How old | were you last year? |