What is was used with? When is it written, and when were. Conjugation of the verb To Be in the Past Simple

Confused about the use of Present Perfect and Past Simple? Some useful clarifications on this topic!

Hi all! I remember at the beginning of development in English I was very often worried about the difference between the use of Present Perfect (Present Complete) and Past Simple (Past Simple). He often made mistakes when speaking and could not understand when it would be correct to use “I’ve been” and when “I was.” As you know, both phrases translate as “I was.” If you are experiencing the same difficulties, then read this short article “The difference between i’ve been and i was” to the end and perhaps everything will become a little clearer to you.

Using "I was".

Friends, whenever you cannot decide between “I was” and “I have been,” always quickly refresh your memory of the conditions under which these two tenses are used!

After all, you know that we never use the Present Perfect, if we know exactly when in the past we performed this or that action! That is, if you want to say “I was in London last summer,” the phrase “last summer” is a marker that determines the time at which it would be best to say this phrase in English. Do you know exactly when I was in London? Yes, last summer! So the correct option would be:

I was in London last summer.

I've been to London last summer.

If in a conversation you just want to say that you have already been to London (sometime in the past, just as a fact), then the Present Perfect Tense is eager to fight:

I've been to London.

More examples:

I was there two times.

(I've been there twice)

The implication is that it is clear from the context when exactly you were there twice in the past. For example, you can discuss your summer holidays with a friend. In English, a lot depends on the situation.

I've been there two times.

(I've been there twice)

In this case, it is absolutely not clear from the topic of conversation exactly when you were there. This could have been a week ago or right after you were born. IN in this case, you are simply stating a fact - I was there twice.

Using “I’ve been.”

So, from the first part of the article it became clear that when using “I’ve been” we are in no way attached to any specific moment in time in the past.

By the way, after “I’ve been” it would be correct to use the preposition “to” and not “in”:

I’ve been to London - I was in London.

I’ve been to Thailand - I was in Thailand.

I’ve been to Moscow - I was in Moscow.

There is another difference between the use of Past Simple and Present Perfect. Let's say there are two phrases:

I've been at home.

What is the difference? Again, the first case assumes that you were home in the past (for example yesterday), but now you are no longer at home.

Using “I’ve been” means that you were at home, say this morning, and now you are still at home.

She was the best student in the class.

She has been the best student in the class.

In the first case, she was the best student in the class. But now she is no longer studying, or is no longer the best.

In the second case, she was the best student in the class, and still is.

Once again I want to emphasize that in English a lot depends on the context, the topic of conversation, and the situation. The ability to sense the time difference in a specific situation helps to use the correct tense. All this comes with experience and practice. If you are having trouble with this now, just keep studying and very soon everything will become clear to you and you will stop being confused English times. Now you know the difference between ive been and i was

Keep learning English and have a nice working week!

» Difference between i've been and i was

To form a negative you need to put a negative particle not after the verbs was or were.

I was ill. I was n"t at school yesterday.
I was ill. I wasn't at school yesterday.

When my children were little they were afraid of the dark.
When my children were little, they were afraid of the dark. (afraid - adjective)

It was sunny but the sea was n"t warm enough to swim.
It was sunny, but the sea was not warm enough to swim.

There were a lot of black clouds in the sky, but there was no wind .*
There were a lot of black clouds in the sky, but there was no wind (at all).

*When choosing there was or there were look at the noun that stands after these structures.

For that, to ask a question, Verbs was And were need to be delivered before the subject. (In a declarative sentence, the verbs was and were come after the subject):

You were not at work last week. Where were you?
You weren't at work last week. Where have you been?
I was on holiday. My family and I were in Turkey.
I was on vacation. My family and I were in Turkey.

How was your job interview? Were are you nervous?
How did your job interview (go)? Did you worry?
No, I was n"t. But there was a question I couldn't answer.
No. But there was a question that I could not answer.

Was the last episode of "The Walking Dead" good?
Was the last episode of The Walking Dead good?
Yes, it was. There were a lot of intense moments and the ending was very emotional.
Yes. There were many tense moments and the ending was very emotional.

Use of the verbs was and were:
Was and were are past forms of the verb to be. As in , was/were is a linking verb and is necessary in a sentence if it lacks a semantic verb (read, cook, laugh...) Verb be in English it is needed in order to connect different parts of speech in meaning (two nouns, a pronoun and a noun, a noun and an adjective...).

What were your favorite cartoons when you were a child?
What were your favorite cartoons when you were a child?
When I was a child, my favorite cartoon was"Tom and Jerry".
When I was a child, my favorite cartoon was Tom and Jerry.

It was 10 p.m. We were lost, cold and hungry.
It was 10 pm. We were lost, cold and hungry. (lost - adjective)

We couldn't make a phone call because the signal was too weak.
We couldn't call because the signal was too weak.

I'm sure you were not at home last night.
I'm sure you weren't home last night.
The lights were out and all the windows were closed.
The lights were off and all the windows were closed.

It is with this verb that you need to start learning English grammar. Verbs in English do not change for persons, but the verb to be is an exception. With the help of this verb we will learn to compose simple sentences, which in Russian do not contain a verb, for example, “I am a student”, “he is at home”, “this is interesting”, etc. In English it is unacceptable to form without a verb that performs the action, and to be serves as a linking verb. For example, to say “I am a student,” we must insert the desired form of the linking verb to be and, as a result, the sentence will take on the meaning “I am a student” - “I (am) a student.”

Forms of the verb to be in the present tense

In the present tense, the verb to be has three forms: AM, IS, ARE:

• Remember: to be and AM, IS, ARE are not 4 different ones, but forms the same verb:

(We hope our dragon will help you remember this)

Let's look at how the verb to be changes in the present tense

Affirmative form

• We are friends - we are friends
• They are busy - they are busy
• The book is thick - the book is thick
• It is a cat
• She is clever - she is smart

Negative form

To form a negative conjugation form of a given verb, you need to put a negative particle “not” after one of the required forms of the verb (am, is or are). Here are some examples of negative sentences:

• I am not hungry – I am not hungry
• He is not busy
• The room is not big – the room is not big

Interrogative form

To form an interrogative form, you need to put the appropriate form of the verb (am, is or are) at the beginning of the sentence:

• Are you Peter? -Are you Pete?
• This room? – Is this a room?
• Are you hungry? -Are you hungry?
• He is busy? – Is he busy?

• To understand how verbs live in the English language, let’s first remember at least one Russian verb in its initial form, for example, the verb “to live”. As you know, Russian verbs in their initial form end in “-т”, and later, when conjugated, the ending changes. As for the English language, the verb in its initial form is used together with the particle to, for example, we say to be – would t, find t Xia, i.e. if the particle to precedes the verb, this means that the verb is in the initial form, and when further using the verb with persons, this particle is omitted. Let's give an example: “To be or not to be” - there are two verbs in the sentence - and both are in the initial form, and they must be used together with the particle to, and, accordingly, we will translate into English as “to be or not to be”. If we have before us the sentence “I (am) a student,” i.e. we have changed the verb to suit the person of the subject, then the particle to is omitted and the proper form of the verb is used, in this case am.
• Unlike the verb to be, other verbs in English are not conjugated, for example, the verbs “live, sit, love” in the initial form are translated into English “to live, to sit, to love”, i.e. with a particle to, and when conjugated - without to, for example, “I live, sit, love” will be translated into English as “I live, sit, love,” i.e. initial form of a verb in English without a particletonot used, but when conjugatedtofalls. Initial form in English it is called Infinitive - Infinitive.

More about the particle to watch our video tutorial:

Verb conjugations tobe in present time

Now let's learn how the verb to be changes (conjugates) in the present tense. As mentioned above, in Russian, sentences like “I am a student, she is a doctor, we are workers” are formed without a predicate verb. But to translate these sentences into English, you need to put the appropriate form to be after the subject - “I am a pupil, she is a doctor, we are workers.”

Please note the translation of the following sentences in affirmative, negative and interrogative forms into English:

Verb conjugations tobe in past and future tense

In the past tense, the verb to be has two forms - was and were (was, was, were)

In the future tense, the verb to be is conjugated as follows

Note: In modern English the form shall is rarely used to form the future tense of verbs (although its use is not grammatical error), for all persons the form is used will. Therefore, sometimes there are discrepancies in different textbooks.

To summarize, consider the following table:

Here are some commonly used verb expressions: to be which you should learn and conjugate yourself using the conjugation table:

• To be happy/unhappy – to be happy/unhappy
• To be glad - to be joyful
• To be hungry/to be full up– to be hungry/full
• To be fond of - to love, be carried away by something
• To be busy - to be busy
• To be late (for) - to be late (for)
• To be in time for – to be on time
• To be present at – to be present at (for example, in a lesson)
• To be absent (from) – to be absent
• To be married – to be married
• To be single - to be single / not married
• To be lucky - to be lucky
• To be ready (for) - to be ready (for, for example, a lesson)
• To be afraid (of) – to be afraid
• To be interested (in) - to be interested in something
• To be ill / well - to be sick / to feel good
• To be angry (with) - to be angry, angry (at someone)

Let's conjugate together the expression to be married in affirmative, interrogative and negative sentences. What did you get?

The verbs was and were are one of the most frequent words in English. It is almost impossible to avoid their use. They act not only as independent verbs, but also participate in the formation of other constructions.

Understanding when was and when were is used is necessary for everyone who learns English. The rules for their use are simple, but they may depend on the role of the verb in the sentence.

The verbs was and were are used in different constructions and act in different capacities. Cases of their use can be divided into 5 types: as the verb “to be”, in the coordination of tenses, to form the Past Continuous, in passive constructions, in conditional sentences with if.

1. Verb "to be"

Was and were in English are two forms of the verb to be in the past tense. They differ in persons and numbers: in the form was the verb is used in the singular, except for the second person (the pronoun you), were - in the plural and in the second person singular.

The rule was / were according to the conjugation table for the verb to be in the past tense:

The cases of using verbs in the meaning of “to be” are very similar to sentences in Russian. The use of was / were is typical when describing location, qualities, type of activity and other cases:

The key was in the car – The key was in the car
George was tall and thin – George was tall and thin
I was a dancer – I was a dancer
Her name was Margaret - Her name was Margaret

In negation with the particle not, verbs can take the abbreviated form wasn’t, weren’t. The particle not in this case is adjacent to the verb and loses its vowel “o”:

The key wasn’t in the car - The key was not in the car
They weren’t at home yesterday - Yesterday they weren’t at home

For the verbs was or were, the rule for forming an interrogative sentence does not require the use of an additional verb to do (did in the past tense).

To turn an affirmative sentence into a question, just move was / were to the first place in the phrase. Whereas for all other verbs you need to resort to to do and put it in first place. Let's compare the following examples:

He was in the library(He was in the library) - Was he in the library? (Was he in the library?)
He went to the library (He went to the library) – Did he go to the library? (Did he go to the library?)

You cannot use both verbs to form an interrogative sentence. A sentence like “Did he be in the library?” will be grammatically incorrect.

The verb to be is actively used in a variety of constructions. For example, in the phrases there was / there were. Such constructions indicate the fact of the existence of objects. The rule for when to use was / were depends only on the number of objects referred to in the sentence:

There were six apples in the box – There were 6 apples in the box
There was a very old house at the end of the street - At the end of the street there was a very old house

There are also various set expressions with the verb “to be”. This verb is actively used in constructions that describe a state, characteristic or a certain quality. Such phrases include to be interested in (to be interested in something), to be in hurry a (hurry), to be fond of (to be carried away by something), to be good at (to understand well, be able to), to be mistaken ( be mistaken) and many others. In sentences with these constructions, different persons of the verb can be used, so here for was were the same rules from the conjugation table are used:

Michel was incredibly fond of dancing – Michael was crazy about dancing

I thought you were in a hurry - I thought you were in a hurry

I could rely on them because they were good at that job - I could rely on them because they did their job well

2. Coordination of times

We must not forget about the rules for agreeing tenses in English: in indirect speech, time subordinate clause depends on the main thing. If the main part is spoken in the past tense, then in the subordinate clause the form of the verb to be changes to was / were. There is no tense agreement in Russian, so the verb does not require a past tense form.

Betty said that you were thinking about buying a new house - Betty said that you were thinking about buying a new house

3. Auxiliary verb for Past Continuous

Another role of the verbs was and were is to serve as a means of forming the Past Continuous. All Continuous tenses are formed through the verb “to be” and the participle ending in ing. The auxiliary verb here does not carry an independent meaning, but only takes on a grammatical function in order to form the desired form. In the past tense, the verb to be looks like was/were, so the formula for forming the Past Continuous looks like was/were + V-ing.

In distinguishing between themselves for were or was, the rule remains the same as described above, and depends on the number and person according to the conjugation table of the verb to be.

I was packing my suitcases at this time - At this time I was packing my suitcases

They were walking together in the park – They walked together in the park

You were studying in your room when Mr. Gray arrived – You were studying in your room when Mr. Gray arrived

4. Passive constructions (formation of the passive voice)

The use of was / were in English is typical for creating passive constructions in the past tense. Such phrases are formed through the verb to be and the past participle, which is the semantic verb. For the past tense, the formula for the formation of the passive is built as was/were + V3.

The passive (or passive voice) is derived from the active form of the sentence and is used in situations where the role of the subject of the original sentence is not so important. In the active voice, the subject describes the actor in the situation and is the most important member of the sentence. In the passive voice, the new subject is the object that experiences the action on itself.

The problem was solved - The problem was solved
Children were separated from their parents - Children were separated from their parents

The examples show that the person and number of this new subject determine whether we use was or were. It doesn't matter which phrase the passive sentence is derived from: the form of the verb is determined by the subject of the phrase.

After converting a sentence into a passive, the original subject may completely disappear from the sentence or appear in a less significant position (for example, in the function of an object). Let's illustrate both cases with examples:

He wrote a letter (He wrote a letter) – The letter was written (The letter was written): the subject he (he) from the first sentence completely disappears in the second.

The President approved this law two months ago (The President approved this law two months ago) – This law was approved by the President two months ago (This law was approved by the President two months ago): subject of first the proposals President does not disappear, but ceases to be the main member and turns from a subject into an object.

If the active participant in the action remains in the sentence, he can be indicated through the preposition by. The preposition with may also appear in a sentence: it refers to inanimate objects and denotes the instrument with which the action was performed.

This house was chosen by my mother - This house was chosen by my mother
The bread was cut with a knife - The bread was cut with a knife

5. Conditional sentences

Conditional sentences are divided into different types. The second type, in which the atypical use of the verb were, appears, is built according to the scheme if + Past + should/would + Vinf.

Such conditional sentences describe an unrealistic situation that will most likely never come true. By using this construction, the speaker expresses obvious doubts that the situation is possible in reality.

In conditional sentences for the verbs was and were, the rules differ from all the examples discussed earlier: in all numbers and persons, only the form were is used. The verb were appears in the subordinate clause of a sentence if the semantic verb to be is to be used in the construction. Was is not used in English in this type of conditional construction.

If I were a king I wouldn't need such a pompous palace - If I were a king, I wouldn't need such a pompous palace.

The peculiarity of conditional constructions with if is also that the verb were appears in them when the indicated situation refers to the present or future tense, and not the past.

If we were in Paris now I would show you the Eiffel Tower - If we were in Paris now, I would show you the Eiffel Tower.