Past Simple of To Be‏

Hi there!

I hope you are enjoying your Monday!

I am and I’m also happy to help you learn some more English, so let’s get started!

We are going to look at the past simple of the verb “to be” today and how to use it correctly.Hoy vamos a estudiar el pasado simple del verbo “to be” y cómo estudiarlo bien.Below are some affirmative sentences containing “to be” in the past simple:

- I was cold.(Yo) Tenía frío.

- You (singular) were hungry.Tenías hambre.

- He was tired.(Él) Estaba cansado.

- She was happy.(Ella) Estaba contenta.

- It was funny.(Aquello) Era divertido.

- We were at home.Estábamos en casa.

- You (plural) were at school.Estabais en el cole.

- They were angry.Estaban enfadados.

Remember that to form the negative, we just have to put “not” after “was” or “were”.

Remember that you can also use the contracted form of the verbs in the negative. You can see them in brackets.

- I was not (wasn’t) cold.

- You (singular) were not (weren’t) hungry.

- He was not (wasn’t) tired.

- She was not (wasn’t) happy.

- It was not (wasn’t) funny.

- We were not (weren’t) at home.

- You (plural) were not (weren’t) at school.

- They were not (weren’t) angry.

Finally, let’s look at some questions and short answers. 

Remember that we put “was” or “were” at the beginning of questions followed by the subject of the sentence.Recuerda que ponemos “was” o “were” al principio de la frase seguido del sujeto de la frase.

Were you (to one person) tired yesterday?  Yes, I was / No, I wasn’t.¿Estabas cansado ayer? Sí, lo estaba / No, no lo estaba.

Was he awake at five this morning?  Yes, he was / No, he wasn’t.¿Estaba él despierto a las cinco de la madrugada? Sí, lo estaba / No, no lo estaba.

Was the film funny?  Yes, it was / No, it wasn’t.¿Era divertida la película? Sí, lo era / No, no lo era.

Were you (to more than one person) at work when I phoned this morning?
Yes, we were / No, we weren’t.¿Estabais en el trabajo cuando llamé esta mañana? Sí, lo estábamos / No, no lo estábamos.

I hope this has been helpful! 

Have a great week!

Take care,