Study materials
Someone shows you a photo from last summer and asks how it was. And it turns out there is nothing to answer with. Everything you know about the verb be lives in the present.
And that is where every story about the past starts: where you were, what the mood was, what the weather was like, whether the food was any good.
It was amazing. We were there for a week.
Two forms cover everything
In the past, be is down to two forms, split by person.
| Subject | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| I, he, she, it | was | I was at home. |
| you, we, they | were | They were late. |
I was at the dentist.
The coffee was cold.
We were at my parents' place.
The kids were asleep.
One place almost everyone trips on: you always takes were, even about a single person.
You were right.
Negatives: just not
This is the simplest negative in English: put not after was or were. In speech it is nearly always contracted.
I wasn't hungry.
They weren't at home.
The film wasn't bad at all.
Questions and short answers
Was and were simply swap places with the subject. Nothing else is added.
Were you at work?
Was the test difficult?
Where were they?
A short answer repeats the same form, and the sentence ends there.
Yes, I was. No, they weren't.
Why did stays out of this
Here is what sets be apart from every other verb. An ordinary verb needs a helper in negatives and questions, so did turns up. Be needs nobody: it moves to the front by itself and takes the not by itself.
She worked late. → Did she work late?
She was late. → Was she late?
So did never appears next to was or were. If the sentence already has be, no helper is wanted.
The mistakes everyone makes
The first is calling in did where be is already doing the job.
She didn't be late. → She wasn't late.
The second is using was with you, we or they.
You was right. → You were right.
The third is answering a was question with did.
Was it good? Yes, it did. → Yes, it was.
All three are caught by one question. Is there a was or a were in the sentence? If so, did has no business being there.
Try it right now
Think of three places you were yesterday and say them out loud. The dullest ones will do: at home, at work, at the shop.
Then turn each one into a question and give the short answer. Check that no did sneaks in.