Past Tense – Was, Were

These are used to describe events that happened in the past. “Was” and “were” are the past simple forms of am, is, or are. For instance, the tense “I am happy” can be changed to the past tense. “I was happy.” Likewise, the present tense “You are early” can be changed to “You were early” by changing the verb “are” to “were.”

To change a present tense to the past, you should follow this rule: I, she, he, and it should be used with “was,” while “you,” “we,” and “they” should be used with “were.”

Examples:

• I was at the cinema yesterday.
• She was late for her meeting.
• He was kind to the stranger when he saw him.
• You were absent for yesterday’s training.
• We were best friends in second grade.
• Were they at the concert yesterday?

The negative forms of “was” and “were” verbs are “was not” and “were not,” respectively. They can also be represented by “wasn’t” and “weren’t.” Here are some examples:

• Her sister was hungry, but she wasn’t.
• The soldiers were not shooting.
• Tom wasn’t happy with his brother’s tantrum.

In addition, the past tenses “was” and “were” can be used to report past or historical events.

• Nigeria was a British colony until her independence in 1960.
• He was born in 2000.