Was - Were - Past Tense of the verb "To Be"
The verb 'to be' is used in many questions such as "Are you married?", "Where are you from?", "Are you happy?", etc. Once you understand the verb 'to be' in the present tense, learn the verb 'to be' in the past tense. Use this guide to 'was / were' and compare this form to 'am / is / are' of the present simple to compare the present to the past.
Read the following questions. Compare the simple present with the simple past in the first example and then complete the questions using the correct form of the verb 'to be' in the past.
Now complete the following chart for the simple past of the verb "to be"
Notice that the short forms of the verb "to be" include: I'm, I'm not, You're, You aren't, He's She's it's, He she it isn't, we're, we aren't, etc.
The short form is formed by putting an apostrophe - ' - in the place of the missing letter.
Write some sentences using the verb "to be" in the past. Example: I was at a party yesterday.
This video focusing on past tense will help you practice both irregular and regular verbs in the past tense. Ellen Quish also provides learning notes and a transcript of the dialogue in the video.
