We’ve looked at the Simple Present of the verb “be.” Now we are going to look at the Simple Past of “be.”
am/is ==> was:
- I am cold. ==> Yesterday, I was hot.
- John is tired. ==> He was tired the other day, too.
are ==> were:
- You are mistaken. ==> You were mistaken last time.
- We are hungry. ==> We were late for supper.
We have the following table:
- I was
- he / she / it was
- we / you / they were
For negative statements:
- I was not (wasn’t)
- he / she it was not (wasn’t)
- we / you / they were not (weren’t)
Examples:
- I was late for class yesterday.
- I’m glad I wasn’t late today!
- He was frustrated with all the paperwork.
- She wasn’t ready for the test.
- They weren’t home when I called last night.
For questions:
- was I?
- was he / she / it?
- were we / you / they?
These questions may be answered with a yes or no.
Examples:
Was the doctor available?
- Yes (, he was).
- No (, he wasn’t).
Were you finished reading the paper?
- Yes (, I was).
- No (, I wasn’t).
Was it a big dog?
- Yes (, it was).
- No (, it wasn’t).
Were they on a skiing trip?
- Yes (, they were).
- No (, they weren’t).
Note:
It is very common to use a tag question format:
- S + was/were V, wasn’t/weren’t S?
- S + wasn’t/weren’t V, was/were S?
When we ask these types of questions, we are generally expecting the answer to the positive-framed question. Answer from the point of view of the subject, NOT the viewpoint of the person asking the question.
Examples:
You weren’t sleeping, were you? (think “Were you sleeping?” to answer)
- Yes (, I was).
- No (, I wasn’t).
The baby sure was hungry, wasn’t he? (think “Was he hungry?” to answer)
- Yes (, he sure was).
- No (, he wasn’t).
Wasn’t that a boring movie? (think “Was that a boring movie?” to answer)
- Yes (, it was).
- No (, it wasn’t).
Exercises: Make sentences by using the correct form of was/were.
Example:
- skinny / the dog ==> The dog was skinny.
- Bob / hungry / not ==> Bob wasn’t hungry.
- not / Sally / sleepy ? ==> Wasn’t Sally sleepy?
1. broken / the dishwasher
2. it / last / rainy / week
3. my pencil / red
4. invited / Mary / the party / to
5. expensive / that restaurant
6. off / the lights ?
7. a dog attacked / by Joe
8. for / late / their appointment / they
9. done / the laundry ?
10. donated / the books / the boys’ club / to
11. first / I / in / place / the competition
12. at / not / the library / you ?
13. all / day / from / the waiter / tired / working
14. and / in / not / the swimming pool / Tim / Tom ?
15. a tree / in / stuck / the cat
16. class / in / not / Tom ?
17. the house / sold / last / week
18. not / off / the stove / turned ?
19. out of order / the pop machine
20. clean / not / the windows ?
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