English today is compulsory for study, because without knowledge it is hardly worth counting on getting a well-paid, interesting and very promising job. Moreover, it is precisely with the help of English that one can freely communicate in any country in the world. Many, having begun to study this foreign language, do not finish the job due to difficulties arising on the way to such a cherished goal.
Learning English is not an easy task, because there are a lot of nuances. Now we’ll talk about how to use the verbs was - were correctly and find out how they all the same differ from each other.
Verbs was - were - past form "to be"
Before you start talking about the use of the above verbs in English, it is recommended to find out what they are and where they come from. The verbs was - were formed from one irregular verb, which is "to be", and they are its past form. The very verb to be in our native language is translated as “to be,” “happen,” “exist.” Thanks to William Shakespeare's signature phrase “To be or not to be”, this irregular English verb is known even to those who are just about to start learning a foreign language.
As mentioned above, to be is an irregular verb, therefore its past forms are not formed by adding the ending “ed” in the second form (Past Simple), as well as the auxiliary verb had / have and all the same endings “ed” in the third form (Past Participle). Irregular verbs are called so, because there is no definite rule by which they form. Their past forms simply need to be learned, which is not so difficult as it might initially seem.
How is was different from were?
Now it's time to talk about why, after all, the irregular verb to be in the past form, which is Past Simple, has two options at once and how they actually differ. The verb was translated into Russian as “was,” “happened,” “existed,” while were was interpreted as “existed,” “were,” or “happened.” It can be seen from the translation that these verbs differ primarily in number. The verb was in English should be used with the singular noun, while were used with the plural noun.
Verbs was and were in Past Simple
Consider now the use of the verbs was - were in English. The first case when you need to use these verbs is when building sentences in the past tense Past Simple. This is the most understandable and common case, which should not be said much. Suggestions with the verb was or were will be considered now. For example, “I was at home last evening” is translated as “I was at home last night,” and “They were at the college yesterday” should be translated as “Yesterday they were in college.”
Despite the fact that there is nothing complicated in Past Simple, many beginners simply cannot understand when to use the verb was, and in which cases they should be used. In fact, this is also nothing complicated. With nouns or pronouns in the singular (I, it, he, she), the verb was should be used, while for the plural (you, were, they), the verb were was used. With the pronoun you, which, depending on the situation, can be translated as “you”, “you” in the plural and respectful treatment “you”, the verb were always used.
Constructions There was / There were
There are steady turns in English There is / There are which, in fact, do not have a specific translation, but they are often used in sentences like “There are seven pupils in the classroom”, which should be interpreted as “There are seven students in the class” . Therefore, the past form of such revolutions is There was / There were. The sentence “There were seven pupils in the classroom” should already be translated as “There were seven students in the class”. It is worth noting that in this case, the use of the above construction depends primarily on the number of subject.
Verbs was and were in Past Continuous Tense (past tense)
In English, there is another interesting construct going to, which translates as "get together to do something." In the past tense, it takes the form was going to / were going to. As an example, consider two sentences. The translation of the sentence “I am going to swim” will look like “I'm going to swim”, while “I was going to swim yesterday” should be interpreted as “Yesterday I was going to swim”. As in previous cases, the use of the verbs referred to in this article depends entirely on the number of subject.
The verbs was and were in Conditional Sentences (conditional sentences)
By and large, in this article we have already examined the main cases in which was-were verbs should be used, however, if you want to take a deeper look at learning such a beautiful English, then you should know something else.
English also has special conditional sentence constructs. To make it more clear, consider an example. The sentence “If I were you, I would buy this T-shirt” can be translated into Russian like this: “If I were you, I would buy this T-shirt.” It should be said that such conditional sentences in most cases begin with the if union, which translates as “if”. For more detailed information about this design, you should read the section of the English grammar "Conditional Sentences".
Quite often in such cases, to be acts as an auxiliary verb for the formation of more complex tenses. In turn, the verbs were and was also auxiliary, and they should be used depending on the number of subject. However, one should always keep in mind the construction If I were, which is found in conditional sentences in the present tense and requires the presence of the verb were after pronoun I. Only in no case should it be confused with some similar constructions that are not conditional and contain the phrase I was. For example, “Sorry if I was late for this lesson”, which translates as “Sorry if I was late for this lesson.”
As you can see, to master these subtle nuances of the English language is not so difficult as it seems initially. The use of the verbs was or were limited to just a few simple rules that you just need to remember. The main thing is to understand when the necessary form of the verb to be in the past tense should be used.
Believe me, in the future knowledge of the English language will certainly come in handy. And if you do not work abroad or cannot get a well-paid and prestigious job on the territory of your country, you will still have to speak English fluently, while on vacation in some exotic and sunny country, you will definitely have to. Learn English, improve, and you will certainly succeed.