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Home / Learn English / Grammar / The verb "To be" (Past Tense)

The verb "To be" (Past tense)

Download this explanation in PDF
Click here for all the verb "To be" Exercises
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?
Click here for The verb "To be" in Past tense Online exercise - Download in PDF
Click here for all the verb "To be" Exercises
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