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? |