Beginner · Grammar Reference
Unit 9 — Past times
was/were · Past Simple irregular verbs
9.1 was / were
Was and were are the past tense of am / are / is.
Present
| Subject | To be | |
|---|
| I | am | |
| He / She / It | is | fine. in class. |
| You / We / They | are | |
Past
| Subject | To be | |
|---|
| I / He / She / It | was | fine. |
| You / We / They | were | at home. |
Negative
| Subject | Negative | |
|---|
| I / He | wasn't | at home last weekend. |
| You / They | weren't | at school yesterday. |
Questions
Where were you yesterday?Was she at school? Yes, she was. / No, she wasn't.📌 Note
We use
was/were with
born, not
am/is/are.
Where
were you
born? NOT
Where are you born?He
was born in Russia. NOT
He is born in Russia.9.2 Past Simple – irregular verbs
Many common verbs are irregular. See the list of irregular verbs on the inside front cover.
| Present | | Past |
|---|
| am / is / are | → | was / were |
| buy | → | bought |
| do | → | did |
| go | → | went |
| have | → | had |
| make | → | made |
| put | → | put |
| run | → | ran |
| see | → | saw |
| sit | → | sat |