Past simple

Si en el presente simple, el verbo to be tiene tres formas (am, is, are), en el pasado simple, tiene dos: was y were.

Was corresponde a la primera persona del singular (I) y a la tercera persona del singular (he, she, it); were se emplea para las demás personas (you, we, they).

I was at work.

Estaba en el trabajo

You were quite ill.

Estuviste realmente enfermo.

We were in Scotland last week

Estuvimos en Escocia la semana pasada

Comparemos la forma afirmativa del presente del verbo to be con el pasado:

La forma afirmativa de to be en el presente simple es:

I am

I’m

you are

you’re

he is

he’s

she is

she’s

it is

it’s

we are

we’re

you are

you’re

they are

they’re

La forma afirmativa de to be en el pretérito simple es:

I was

you were

he was

she was

it was

we were

you were

they were

Was y were no se contraen con el pronombre

Tal como se puede apreciar, en el pretérito simple, no se forma una contracción entre el pronombre y el verbo to be. Tanto was como were aparecen solos.

You were in English class.

Estuviste en la clase inglés.

It was good.

Fue bueno.

They were at home.

Estuvieron en casa

Sin embargo, cuando la frase es negativa, la contracción se hace entre was y not y were y not:

I was not

I wasn’t

You were not

You weren’t

He was not

He wasn’t

She was not

She wasn’t

It was not

It wasn’t

We were not

We weren’t

You were not

You weren’t

They were not

They weren’t

Por ejemplo:

He wasn’t a member of the club.

No era socio del club.

It wasn’t cold.

No hacía frío.

They weren’t late.

No llegaron tarde.

Un “atajo lingüística” en forma de respuesta corta

Como siempre pasa en inglés, hay que cambiar el orden de la frase para hacer la pregunta. Con la respuesta podemos hacer un “atajo lingüística” al contestar con el verbo auxiliar, o sea con was o were:

Pregunta

Respuesta corta

Was I at home?

Yes, I was / No, I wasn’t

Were you at work?

Yes, you were / No, you weren’t

Was he Canadian?

Yes, he was / No, he wasn’t

Was she a doctor?

Yes, she was / No, she wasn’t

Was it sleeping?

Yes, it was / No, it wasn’t

Were we there?

Yes, we were / No, we weren’t

Were you ready?

Yes, you were / No, you weren’t

Were they studying?

Yes, they were / No, they weren’t