2. Am, Is = Was
Are = Were
We use the simple past
tense of the verb to be to
talk about any state, to
describe a person or
situation in the past.
Was /
Were
3. When do I use Was /
Were?
I am eating a muffin = I
was eating a muffin
You are at the beach =
You were at the beach
The boys are playing
soccer = The boys were
playing soccer
She is brushing her hair
= She was brushing her
hair
For example:
4. Affirmative Structure 04/
You were good friends
with Mike and John when
you were younger.
They were always
together.
We were always first in
the class.
SIGUIENTE
However, as an exception we use
“were” for the second person
singular and plural.
Notice that the simple past form of
the verb “to be” in the singular form is
always “was”
I was a great football player when I was a kid.
You were always a good student when you were at school.
He was very hungry this morning.
She was tired after running the race.
The house was painted red
For the simple past plural
forms of the verb “to be”
we always use the verb
“were.”
5. Negative Structure
The negative of To Be can be made by
adding not after the verb (was or were).
We can make negative contractions of the
verb To Be in the Past tense by joining the
verb (was or were) and n't (were not =
weren't) (was = wasn't).
05/
6. Questions Structure
When asking questions, we first say the verb to be (in this
case we are talking about was/were) then the subject and
finally the complement.
Was she at your house?
Was I not making myself clear?
Were they upset with me?
You can also ask WH- questions:
06/
7. Let's try it out! 07/
SIGUIENTE
Turn these sentences into past
simple sentences using was or were.
I am waiting for my mom to pick me up.
She is in Australia.
The party is tonight.
They are at school.
We are playing tennis today!
It is a beautiful night.
