Grammar Basics: Unit 10 – “was” and “were”

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 ?