Grammar Section

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Was & Were

SER / ESTAR (Past Tense)

Was/were is used to talk about yourself and other people, animals or things, in the PAST TIME. The Spanish translation is SER or ESTAR, and you have to choose one of the meanings depending on the context. For example: She was Spanish (Ella era espaola) She was in Spain. (Ella estaba en Espaa) She was from Spain. (Ella era de Espaa)

AFFIRMATIVE
FULL FORM

NEGATIVE
CONTRACTED FORM FULL FORM

INTERROGATIVE
SHORT ANSWERS

I was You were He was She was It was We were You were They were

I was not You were not He was not She was not It was not We were not You were not They were not

I wasnt You werent He wasnt She wasnt It wasnt We werent You werent They werent

Was I? Were you? Was he? Was she? Was it? Were we? Were you? Were they?

Yes, I was / No, I wasnt Yes, you were / No, you werent Yes, he was / No, he wasnt Yes, she was / No, she wasnt Yes, it was / No, it wasnt Yes, we were / No, we werent Yes, you were / No, you werent
Yes, they were / No, they werent

HABER (Past Tense)

We can also use WAS/WERE with There to talk about things you could see or things you know exist IN THE PAST. The Spanish translation is HABA. For example: There was a chair in the classroom. (Haba una silla en la clase) There were two chairs in the classroom. (Haba dos sillas en la clase)

AFFIRMATIVE
FULL FORM FULL FORM

NEGATIVE
CONTRACTED FORM FULL FORM

INTERROGATIVE
SHORT ANSWERS

There was There were

There was not There were not

There wasnt There werent

Was there? Were there?

Yes, there was No, there wasnt Yes, there were No, there werent