All rules for using the verbs was were. Usage cases was - were Verbs was - were - past form "to be"

The verb be (to be) in the past simple tense has two forms: was(was/was) and were(were):
was- used with nounssingular ;
were - with nounsplural .
Please note that the pronoun you is plural in English and therefore always agrees with plural verbs!

Table of inflections of the verb to be in the past simple tense:

I I /He he /She she /It it	was	(not)	ill last week.
We we /You you /They they	were

To form a negative you need to put a negative particle not after the verbs was or were.

I was ill. I was n"t at school yesterday.
I was sick. I wasn't at school yesterday.

When my children were little they were afraid of the dark.
When my children were little, they were afraid of the dark. (afraid - adjective)

It was sunny but the sea was n"t warm enough to swim.
It was sunny, but the sea was not warm enough to swim.

There were a lot of black clouds in the sky, but there was no wind .*
There were a lot of black clouds in the sky, but there was no wind (at all).

*Upon selection there was or there were look at the noun that stands after these structures.

For that, to ask a question, verbs was And were need to be delivered before the subject. (In a declarative sentence, the verbs was and were come after the subject):

Was	I/he/she/it	ill?	Yes, I was./No, I wasn't.
Were	we/you/they	ill?	Yes, we were./No, we weren't.

You were not at work last week. Where were you?
You weren't at work last week. Where have you been?
I was on holiday. My family and I were in Turkey.
I was on vacation. My family and I were in Turkey.

How was your job interview? Were are you nervous?
How (was) your job interview? Were you worried?
No, I was n"t. But there was a question I couldn't answer.
No. But there was a question that I could not answer.

Was the last episode of "The Walking Dead" good?
Was the last episode of The Walking Dead good?
Yes, it was. There were a lot of intense moments and the ending was very emotional.
Yes. There were many tense moments and the ending was very emotional.

Use of the verbs was and were:
Was and were are past forms of the verb to be. Just like in , was/were is a linking verb and it is necessary in a sentence if it lacks a semantic verb (read, cook, laugh...) Verb be in English it is needed in order to connect different parts of speech in meaning (two nouns, a pronoun and a noun, a noun and an adjective...).

What were your favorite cartoons when you were a child?
What were your favorite cartoons when you were a child?
When I was a child, my favorite cartoon was"Tom and Jerry".
When I was a child, my favorite cartoon was Tom and Jerry.

It was 10 p.m. We were lost, cold and hungry.
It was 10 pm. We were lost, cold and hungry. (lost - adjective)

We couldn't make a phone call because the signal was too weak.
We couldn't call because the signal was too weak.

I'm sure you were not at home last night.
I'm sure you weren't home last night.
The lights were out and all the windows were closed.
The lights were off and all the windows were closed.

In order to learn how to correctly use these common verb forms, you need to understand their origin. And they come from the verb “to be” and are translated into Russian as “to be”, “to exist”, “to be present”, etc.

It is important to know that “to be” is, that is, one of the five hundred verbs whose conjugation does not correspond to the typical paradigms of the English language. Not all, but at least two hundred of them need to be learned.

In the form of the simple past tense (), this verb does not receive the ending ed, as happens with the so-called regular verbs, but is transformed into words that are completely different in sound and spelling - was and were.

Was

In the simple past tense, using the verb “to be” is not accompanied by difficulties, even for a beginner.

There was a terrible cry. (A terrible scream was heard).

There were, on the contrary, is used when we are talking about something that was present, existed in plural quantities.

Examples:

There were thirty of them. (There were thirty of them);
There were a lot of books. (There were a lot of books there).

Using was and were in affirmative sentences

In affirmative sentences, these appear, as in all similar cases, always after the noun to which they refer.

Examples:

Anna and her children were happy to see me. – Anna and her children were glad to see me;
John was there when I came. - John was there when I arrived;
Me and my brother were very close friends. - My brother and I were good friends;
Reading books was her favorite hobby. - Reading books was her favorite hobby.

There is another interesting construction in English - to be going to do. It means to “intend”, “plan”, “have intentions”, “to intend”, “to undertake” to do something. The use of this construction with the forms was and were in grammar is called .

In what cases it is necessary to use was, and where it is necessary to use were, as in the previous examples, completely depends on the subject. comes first, and always before the verb to be in the appropriate form.

Examples:

I was going to bed when someone knocked on the door;
He wasn't going to leave home;
She was going to write an autobiography.

Using was and were in negative sentences

are formed using the particle not or negative adverbs:

abbreviation for were not - weren't;
short for was not - wasn't.

Examples:

They weren't very hospitable. – They were not distinguished by hospitality;
He wasn't there when you came. - He wasn't there when you arrived;
We weren'tt thirsty enough. - We weren’t particularly thirsty;
When the trees were not tall – When the trees were not big;

Using was and were in interrogative sentences

As with any other case, with these forms of the verb to be, they are built by changing the word order. In the first place is either the verb to be in the appropriate form or a question word.

Examples:

Was she late for the interview? - Yes, she was. - No, she wasn’t. – Was she late for the interview? - Yes. - No;
Who was that man on the left from your wife? -Who was the man to the left of your wife?
What was the name of this nice girl? - What was the name of this sweet girl?
When were are you in Iceland? - When were you in Iceland?

Theoretical knowledge of grammar in itself is worthless without practical application. Therefore, when reading and watching films in English, you need to write down familiar grammatical forms and structures.

Then, in the future, intending to say a phrase in English, you will not have to conjugate and inflect separately existing members of the sentence separately and assemble them into a single whole.

Let's learn to distinguish was And were– past forms of the verb of being.

Was

Was consistent with singular, that is, it is placed after I, he, she, it and their substitutes. It denotes everything inanimate and sexless.

Iwasshopping – I was shopping

He was eating pizza – Heatepizza

She was laughing - Shelaughed

Itwasbeautiful – It was beautiful

wasn't (= wasn't)

A separate form is allowed in emphasis (strong emotional denial) and officialdom.

I wasn’t happy – I was unhappy

He wasn’t sad - He wasn’t sad

Wassb…?

In questions with was it is placed first. Remember that general questions end with a rising tone.

Washehappy? - Was he happy?

Wasshesad? – Was she sad?

Wasis it raining? – Walkedrain?

Were

Were consistent with plural, that is, it is placed after we, you, they and their substitutes.

Wewerehappy - We were happy

They were singing – Theysang

You were watching the video – Youwatchedmovies

They were growling - They growled

weren't (= weren't)

A separate form is allowed in emphasis and officialdom.

Weweren’t’thappy - We weren't happy

They weren’t singing – TheyNotsang

You weren’t watching the video – You didn’t watch the video

They weren’t growling - They didn’t growl

Were sb...?

In questions with were it is placed first.

Werewehappy? - Were we happy?

Wereare they singing? - Theysang?

Wereare you singing? - Yousang?

English Joke

The good wife, after she and her husband had retired for the night, discussed for a long time with much eloquence. When she was interrupted by a snore from her spouse, she thumped the sleeper into wakefulness, and then remarked:

“John, do you know what I think of a man who will go to sleep while his own wife is a-talkin’ to him?”

“Well, now, I believe as how I do, Martha,” was the drowsily uttered response. “But don’t let that stop you. Go right ahead, an’ git it off your mind.”

Formed by adding the ending -ed to regular verbs (look - looked, dance - danced). Irregular verbs have a second form that you need to remember (go - went, swim - swam). Verb to be stands in the first row among irregular verbs. Its past tense has two forms: was/were .

How does one form differ from another? There is a certain rule:

- was is used with the subject in singular;

- were is used with the subject in plural.

Summary table of correct use:

Statement

In the affirmative form of the sentence, the verb tobe follows the subject.

	was
	were,

It should be noted that in negative and interrogative sentences, did is NOT used.

Negation

	full form	short form
	wasnot	wasn't’ t
	were not	weren't

In the negative form, a particle is placed after was and were not.

We were not / weren't home when you called. - We weren't at home when you called.

Question

In the interrogative form, was and were are placed in front of the subject.

Turnover there was/were

There is a very popular phrase in English there was/were, which matters to exist, to be. When choosing a phrase there was or was, you need to focus on the subject that comes after this construction.

If after a given phrase there are several subjects, then you need to adhere to the following rule: you should focus on the first subject, which immediately follows the phrase.

The negative form is constructed in several ways:

no, which is between was/were and the subject

Using a negative particle not, followed by any/ much etc.

The interrogative form is formed following the general rule: you need to swap there and was/were .

Using the verb to be

using examples of sentences in the past tense

The verb to be performs the following functions:

Linking verb

Used in those sentences that do not have a semantic verb (for example, run, draw, write, etc.). It matches the words to be, to be, to consist of, to be concluded. That is, it is necessary where you need to connect two nouns, a pronoun and a noun, a noun and an adjective, a pronoun and an adjective, etc. (Michael is a journalist; He is a student; My cat is black and white; They are diligent, etc.). As for the Russian language, here in the present tense this connective is often not written or pronounced, and is also not translated from English.

The story is interesting. - The story is interesting.

The story was boring. - The story was boring.

Semantic verb

Used in the following basic meanings:

to be, to exist

The greatest writer that ever was . - The greatest writer who ever lived.

to be, to be, to be present

She was at the meeting. - She was present at the meeting.

be, stay

I was a little time reaching the city. - It took me a little time to get to the city.

happen, happen, take place

It was last year. - It happened last year.

cost, mean, etc.

It was nothing to him. - It didn’t cost him anything / It didn’t mean anything to him.

Auxiliary verb

In this case, it is not translated, since it is used to construct English tenses. Helps form all time groups Continuous (Progressive) - long time [ past tense Past Continuous = was/were + semantic verb ending -ing].

She was doing her homework at 3 o’clock. - She did her homework at 3 o'clock.

Used in a stable design. In the past tense, the constructions were going to or were going to are used when an action was planned to be performed, but in the end it was not done, or when an action was supposed to happen, but this did not happen.

I was going to travel by train, but then I decided to go by car instead. - I planned to go by train, but then I decided to go by car.

Participates in the formation of the passive voice in all tenses (when an action is performed on an object).

Modal verb

Expresses a planned duty. It is used when it is necessary to express the performance of an action by prior agreement or pre-planned plan. Was to/were to translated from English should/should have.

When it is necessary to express an action that supposedly happened in the past, to be is placed before the infinitive of the semantic verb with a particle to [was/were + to+ infinitive].

We were to meet at 4 o'clock. - We were supposed to meet at 4 o'clock. (In this example, it is unknown whether the action actually took place or not. This can be found out from the context, from the entire content of the speech.)

You were to send him a letter, but you forgot. - You were supposed to send him a letter, but you forgot. (In this case it is clear that the action did not take place).

When it is necessary to express an action that should have taken place in the past, but this definitely did not happen, the verb to be is placed before the semantic verb in Perfect tense with a particle to

You were to have finished your work on Monday. - You were supposed to finish work on Monday. (According to this construction, it is known that the action did not occur.)