The verb to be (Past tense)

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The verb "To be" (Past tense)

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The Simple Past Tense of the verb To be:
Affirmative form

Subject	To be
I	was
You	were
He / She /It	was
We	were
You	were
They	were

EXAMPLES

I was in Hawaii in 2015.
You were sick.
He was in the park.
She was my girlfriend.
It was cloudy.
We were friends.
You were married.
They were tired this morning.

Negative form
The negative form of simple past tense with “To be” can be made by adding not after the verb (was or were). There’s no contraction of the subject and verb (e.g. I was).

Subject	To be	Contraction
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

EXAMPLES

I wasn’t invited.
Mary was not at home.
That wasn’t right.
Susan and Leo weren’t married.

Questions form and answers
The question form of simple past tense with “To be” can be made by putting the verb (was or were) before the subject.

To be	Subject
Was	I	happy?
Were	you	happy?
Was	he / she / it	happy?
Were	we	happy?
Were	you	happy?
Were	they	happy?

EXAMPLES

Was I late? Yes, you were. / No, you were not.
Were you happy? Yes, I was. / No, I wasn’t.
Was he sick? Yes, he was. / No, was not.
Was she from France? Yes, she was. / No, she wasn’t.
Was it a small house? Yes, it was. / No, it was not.
Were we ready? Yes, we were. / No, we were not.
Were you together? Yes, we were. / No, we weren’t.
Were they angry? Yes, they were. / No they weren’t.

You can add a question word (why, where, when, who, how, etc.) before was or were to ask for more information.

EXAMPLES

Why was I hungry?
Where were you?
When was he sick?
Who was she?
How was the trip?
Where were we?
How long were you together before you were engaged?
Why were they abandoned?

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