WAS AND WERE
There are two conjugations for this verb: WAS and WERE. These words can have 4 meanings. It is very important to know these meanings before analyzing the structure. The 4 meanings depend on the context of the sentence or conversation.
The first two meanings relate to the verb ESTAR and work for all personal pronouns:
→ She was here yesterday (Ella estuvo / estaba aquí ayer.).
In this case was can mean Estuvo or Estaba.
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The second two meanings relate to the verb SER and work for all personal pronouns:
→ They were happy in their childhood.
In this case were can mean Eran or Fueron.
PERSONA VERBO TO BEEN PASADO EJEMPLO
he/she/it was She was here, and he was out.
we were We were going out, but the plans changed.
you were You two were up to something.
they were They were worried about us.
In short...
... we use WAS with
- I: I was here yesterday (Ayer estuve aquí).
- he: She said he was happy (Ella dijo que él era feliz).
- she: I think Ana was running (Creo que Ana estaba corriendo).
- it: The dog was digging again! (¡El perro estaba cavando otra vez!)
... we use WERE with:
- you (Tu, singular) : Bob, you were at school, right? (Bob, estabas en la escuela, ¿cierto?)
- you (Vosotros, plural): You guys were wrong (Chicos vosotros estabais equivocados).
- we: Last month, we were very busy (El mes pasado estuvimos muy ocupados).
- they: You believe they were away (Crees que ellos estaban fuera).
