Explanation
Use "was" and "were" to talk about the past state of "be". Use "was" with "I", "he", "she", and "it". Use "were" with "you", "we", and "they".
For example, "I was tired last night." In this sentence, "I" is the subject, "was" shows the past state, and "tired" tells us the feeling. "Last night" shows the time in the past.
Japanese often says "疲れていました" without changing the verb much, but English must change "be" to "was" or "were".
"was" と "were" は、be動詞の過去形です。"I", "he", "she", "it" には "was" を使い、"you", "we", "they" には "were" を使います。
例えば "I was tired last night." では、主語は "I"、"was" が過去の状態を表し、"tired" が気持ちを言います。"last night" は過去の時を示します。
日本語では「昨夜は疲れていました」のように言えますが、英語では be 動詞を "was" や "were" に変える必要があります。
Examples
- I was busy yesterday. 私は昨日忙しかったです。
- She was at school this morning. 彼女は今朝学校にいました。
- We were late for dinner. 私たちは夕食に遅れました。
- Were you at the station yesterday? 昨日、駅にいましたか。
- It was not very cold last week. 先週はそれほど寒くありませんでした。
- There were many people at the park. 公園にはたくさんの人がいました。
Common Mistakes
Japanese learners often keep the present form with a past time word, or choose the wrong form for the subject.
Wrong: "I am tired yesterday."
Right: "I was tired yesterday."
Wrong: "They was at home."
Right: "They were at home."
Use "was" for "I/he/she/it" and "were" for "you/we/they".
日本人学習者は、過去の時を言っているのに現在形のままにしたり、主語に合わない形を使ったりしがちです。
誤り: "I am tired yesterday."
正しくは "I was tired yesterday."
誤り: "They was at home."
正しくは "They were at home."
"I/he/she/it" には "was"、"you/we/they" には "were" を使います。