PE-19: Past Simple of "to be": was / were
Your first step into the past. Only two forms to learn — was and were — plus there was / there were and the time words that send a sentence backwards.
PE-19: Past Simple of "to be": was / were
Everything you have learned so far lives in the present. From this lesson, Prime English turns towards the past — and English gives you a gentle first step, because the past of to be has only two forms in the whole language: was and were. Learn those two words and you can already talk about yesterday.
In this lesson you will learn
- Which subjects take was and which take were
- Negatives (wasn't / weren't) and questions — no helper verb needed
- There was / There were for describing the past
- The time expressions that tell you a sentence is in the past
1. The picture: a finished point in the past
The moment is finished and it does not touch the present. That is why the Past Simple always comes with a time word like yesterday or last night.
I was at home yesterday, but my parents were at work.
Kecha men uyda edim, ota-onam esa ishda edilar.
2. Which one goes where
was — the singular ones
- I was tired.
- He / She / It was late.
- Jasur was at school.
- The weather was cold.
were — the plural ones + you
- You were right.
- We / They were happy.
- My friends were here.
- The shops were closed.
3. Negatives and questions
Exactly like the present to be (PE-6): add not, or swap the first two words. No did anywhere — that helper belongs to other verbs, and you meet it in PE-22.
- Negative: I was not → I wasn't. They were not → They weren't.
- Question: Was he at home? Were you tired?
- Short answers: Yes, I was. / No, I wasn't. Yes, they were. / No, they weren't.
- Wh- questions: Where were you last night? Why was she angry?
— Were you at the party? — No, I wasn't. I was ill.
— Bazmda edingmi? — Yoʻq, edim emas. Kasal edim.
4. There was / There were
The there is / there are structure from PE-7 simply moves into the past. The same agreement rule applies — the verb matches the noun that follows.
There was a big tree in our garden, and there were two benches under it.
Bogʻimizda katta daraxt bor edi va uning tagida ikkita skameyka bor edi.
Singular noun → there was; plural noun → there were.
5. Time expressions of the past
These words are your signal that the sentence must go backwards: yesterday, last night, last week / month / year, two days ago, in 2019, when I was a child, at that time, in those days.
When I was a child, we were very poor, but we were happy.
Bolaligimda juda kambagʻal edik, lekin baxtli edik.
6. Common mistakes
You was at school yesterday.
You were at school yesterday.
They was very tired.
They were very tired.
Did you was at the cinema?
Were you at the cinema? (no "did" with "to be")
I was borned in 2010.
I was born in 2010.
There were a lot of noise.
There was a lot of noise. (noise is uncountable)
Practice
1 was / were: Sherbek and I ? at the stadium, but the match ? boring.
Show answer
were … was. Sherbek and I = we (plural) → were; the match is singular → was.
2 Make it a question and a negative: She was at home.
Show answer
Was she at home? / She wasn't at home.
Swap for the question, add not for the negative — no did.
3 There was / There were: ___ many people at the bazaar, but ___ no fruit.
Show answer
There were many people … there was no fruit.
People is plural; fruit here is uncountable.
4 Correct it: Where you was last Sunday?
Show answer
Where were you last Sunday?
Two fixes: the verb must be were with you, and it must come before the subject in a question.
5 Write two sentences about your childhood using was and were.
Show answer
Model: When I was seven, my best friend was Afsona. We were in the same class and we were always together.
Key words — Kalit soʻzlar
- Past Simpleoʻtgan oddiy zamon
- Was / wereedi
- Yesterdaykecha
- Last nightkecha kechqurun
- Ago...oldin
- Childhoodbolalik
- To be borntugʻilmoq
- At that timeoʻsha paytda
- Closedyopiq
- Noiseshovqin
🎯 Remember this
- I / he / she / it → was. You / we / they → were. Only two forms.
- Negative: wasn't / weren't. Question: swap the first two words.
- Never use did with to be:
Did you was?✗ - There was + singular · there were + plural.
- I was born — not
I was borned.