The simple past is used principally to describe events in the past. The verb ‘to be ( am, is, are )’ has two forms in the past; was and were.
Positive Form
For first person singular and third person singular, use the word was. In all other cases, use were.
I / he/ she / it + was
You / we / they + were
She was a student.
They were doctors.
I was in Spain in 1999.
We were together.
He was my boyfriend.
Question Form
- In order to ask a question, was/were needs to be at the beginning of the sentence.
TO BE ( was/were ) + Subject + …
Was she a teacher?
Were they students?
Were you in Spain last year?
Was Jessica with you?
Were you together?
Negative Form
Subject + TO BE ( was/were ) + NOT + …
In negative sentences, add the adverb not and put it before the word was/were. Most of the time, the contraction (shortened form) is used in negative sentences.
He was not ( wasn’t) in the store.
You were not ( weren’t ) in the store.
He wasn’t at the theatre.
I wasn’t in Spain in 1990.
Jessica wasn’t in Tokyo in 2005.
We weren’t in together.
- Wasn’t is the short form of was not. You can say either:
I was not in Spain. = I wasn’t in Spain.
- Weren’t is the short form of were not. You can say either:
We were not in Spain. = We weren’t in Spain.