Was It is wereare verbal inflections of verb to be at the simple past, and this tense refers to an action that ended in the past. Corresponds, in general, to the past perfect and imperfect tense in Portuguese.
- Was is used with pronouns I, she, he, it.
- were is used with pronouns they, we, you.
Read too: Everything you need to know about the verb to be
Topics of this article
- 1 - When to use was?
- 2 - When to use were?
- 3 - Inflections of the verb to be in the simple past
- 4 - Use of were in hypothetical situations
- 5 - Solved exercises about was and were
when to use was?
O simple past refers to an action completed in the past. In general, it corresponds to the past perfect and imperfect tense in Portuguese.
we are going to use was whenever we want to flex the verb to be (to be) in simple past, with the pronouns I (I), she (she), it (she/he to objects, animals, etc.) and he (he).
I was looking for you.
I he was looking for you.
She was happy.
She was/was happy.
it was so hungry.
She he he was so hungry.
Hey was going out.
He he was leaving.
when to use were?
were is used in bending verb to be at the simple past with pronounsthey (they), we (us) and you (you).
They were special to me.
They they were special for me.
we were going home.
Us we were going home.
you were the best.|
You it was the best.
Do not stop now... There's more after the publicity ;)
push-ups verbto be at the simple past
|
I Hey She it |
was |
|
They we you |
were |
Use of were in hypothetical situations
When we use the verb to be in hypothetical situations, its flexion will always be were, regardless of grammatical person (personal pronoun).
I wish I were rich.
i wish i were rich.
if she were better, she would go out.
If she were better, she would leave.
he wishes he were smarter.
he wanted him were smarter.
if it were different, we would be elsewhere.\
if were otherwise, we would be somewhere else.
Solved exercises on was It is were
question 1
In which situation the use of were at the simple past will it be suitable for all pronouns?
A) Hypothesis
B) Action in the past
C) Request
D) Indicate preference
Resolution:
Letter a
As we have just seen in the content, hypothetical situations call for the use of were for all grammatical persons. Therefore, the correct option is letter A.
question 2
The situation above shows a person drinking juice. Which sentence below can match the image?
A) She ate the juice.
B) I drank the juice.
C) She was drinking juice.
D) She were drinking juice.
Resolution:
Letter C
We can eliminate the letter B, by starting with I¸ which means I. We are not talking about “I”, but about her. The letter A brings the past tense of the verb to eat (to eat), what is until and does not apply to the act of drinking juice, which is drink. As for the letters C and D, almost identical, we use she with was, except in hypothetical situations. Option D is therefore wrong, the correct answer being C.
By Beta Maria Xavier Reis
English teacher
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
REIS, Beta Maria Xavier. "was and were"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/ingles/was-e-were.htm. Accessed on April 03, 2023.
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