How a sentence is built · CEFR A1 · Starting
was / were — English sentence structure
The past of be has only two forms. Was goes with one person or thing, were with more than one and with you.
The shape
I / he / she / it was · you / we / they were
Say how things were, not how they are.
In Hindi
be का भूतकाल सिर्फ़ दो रूपों में — एक के लिए was, एक से ज़्यादा और you के लिए were।
CoCap explains every structure in both languages, because a rule you understand in Hindi is a rule you can use in English.
The mistake to fix first
The sentence Indian-English speakers actually produce, and the reason it is wrong.
| Commonly said | Correct English |
|---|---|
They was at home. | They were at home. They is plural, so it takes were. |
was / were examples
Easiest first. Every sentence is authored, with the Hindi it comes from.
I was at home yesterday.
मैं कल घर पर {था|थी}।
I was very tired.
मैं बहुत {थका|थकी} {हुआ|हुई} {था|थी}।
I was free yesterday.
मैं कल खाली {था|थी}।
He was busy yesterday.
वह कल व्यस्त था।
We were at school.
हम स्कूल में थे।
They were at the market.
वे बाजार में थे।
The food was good.
खाना अच्छा था।
The film was long.
फिल्म लंबी थी।
also correct: The movie was long.
The weather was good.
मौसम अच्छा था।
The shop was closed.
दुकान बंद थी।
Learn these first
These come first. The rest of this makes more sense once they are automatic.
Questions people ask
- What is the was / were used for?
- The past of be has only two forms. Was goes with one person or thing, were with more than one and with you. In practice: say how things were, not how they are.
- How do you form the was / were?
- I / he / she / it was · you / we / they were.
- What is the most common mistake with the was / were?
- Saying “They was at home.” instead of “They were at home.”. They is plural, so it takes were.
Where was / were fits
Where this structure sits in the ladder, and what surrounds it.
was / were is a CEFR A1 structure — the starting band — and it belongs to how a sentence is built. CoCap’s syllabus files every structure this way so you can learn in order instead of jumping between whatever a search happened to return.
Reading it is not the same as saying it.
CoCap turns this page into practice: Hindi sentence in, English sentence out, corrected one thing at a time. Free, no card.
Practise the was / were →