Was / Were

Hook

“Where were you yesterday?” “I was at home. I was sick.” To talk about the past, even the verb be changes. It has only two past forms, was and were, and they are the first step into the past tense.

Notice

  • I was at home yesterday.
  • She was tired last night.
  • We were at the park on Sunday.
  • They weren’t happy about the news.
  • Were you at school yesterday? — Yes, I was.
  • It was cold and rainy.

Which subjects use was? Which use were?

Rule

PositiveNegativeQuestionShort answer
I / he / she / itwaswasn’tWas he…?Yes, he was. / No, he wasn’t.
you / we / theywereweren’tWere you…?Yes, we were. / No, we weren’t.

Present → past: am/is → was · are → were.

Useful: I was born in 1999. · Where were you? · How was your weekend? — It was great! · There was / There were…

Watch Out

  • ✗ I were at home. → ✓ I was at home.
  • ✗ They was happy. → ✓ They were happy.
  • ✗ I born in 2000. → ✓ I was born in 2000.
  • ✗ You were at school? → ✓ Were you at school?

Practice

  1. Complete: I ___ at work yesterday.
  2. Complete: They ___ at the beach last weekend.
  3. Make it negative: “She was happy.”
  4. Make a question: you / at home / yesterday
  5. Complete: ___ he ready?
  6. Answer: “Was it cold yesterday?” (yes)
  7. Complete: “How ___ your weekend?”
  8. Complete: “I ___ born in 1995.”
Show the answers
  1. was
  2. were
  3. She wasn’t happy.
  4. Were you at home yesterday?
  5. Was
  6. Yes, it was.
  7. was
  8. was

Your Turn

Write six sentences about yesterday or last weekend with was / were: where you were, who you were with, how the weather was and how you felt.

Connect

Our Grammar Quiz has A1 questions on was and were.

Try our Grammar Quiz →

Fix mistakes like “They was happy” in our Error Correction tool.

Try Error Correction →

CEFR A1 — Spoken Production: I can use was and were to talk about past states, places and feelings.

Azizul Hakim
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