Come usi cosa e quello in inglese?

Come usare WAS & WERE in inglese?

‘Was’ e ‘were’ sono verbi che usiamo al passato. In questo articolo, padroneggeremo 3 diversi usi di was ed were e la differenza tra was ed were.

Different usages of ‘was’ and ‘were‘

WAS e WERE sono usati al passato in tre diverse situazioni. Ecco le seguenti situazioni:

1. To describe a person or a thing in the PAST
2. To name/rename a person or a thing in the PAST
3. To say what someone WAS doing in the PAST

Advanced usages of ‘was’ and ‘were’

1. To talk about what was done to something or somebody in the past at some time (past indefinite tense, passive voice)
2. Was and were in subjunctive mood

Antes de ver estas situaciones por separado, comprendamos con qué usar ‘was’ y ‘were’.

WAS vs WERE

• WAS = I, he, she, it & all singular noun names (singular subject)
• WERE = we, you, they & all plural noun names (plural subject)

Singular noun names: Archit, Tom, Jyoti, doctor, singer, mother, car, bus, table, etc.
Plural noun names: students, parents, teachers, sisters, brothers, cars, buses, tables, etc.

WAS and WERE usages

1. Per descrivere una persona o una cosa nel passato

Il primo utilizzo di was o were è per descrivere una persona non vivente o qualcosa del passato. Qui, usiamo un aggettivo o una frase aggettiva dopo era o era.

Structure: Subject + was/were + adjective

Examples:

• I was smart.
• He was naughty in school.
• She was careless last year.
• She was close to me in college.
• It was beautiful.
• The movie was motivating.
• Your family was really supportive.
• Rahul was very arrogant in his childhood.
• Jyoti was really cute.
• I was in Mumbai last week.
• I was about to cry.

• You were hardworking.
• They were very beautiful.
• We were good at singing.
• My friends were stupid.
• We were with the right people.
• The buses were in the wrong side.
• Jon and I were amazing at acting. (Compound subject = Jon and I)

Note que estamos usando was y were para describir el sujeto en el pasado; estamos hablando de cómo era o era el sujeto en el pasado usando un adjetivo o una frase adjetiva.

2. Per nominare/rinominare una persona o una cosa in passato

Il secondo uso di was and were è per dare un nome a una persona o una cosa in passato. Qui si parla di quale fosse o fosse l’argomento in passato. Usiamo un sostantivo o una frase nominale dopo era o era.

Examples:

• I was a teacher.
• He was an amazing singer.
• She was my love.
• It was a crazy idea.
• Jyoti was an artist.
• Conor was an unbeatable fighter back in the days.
• My father was a cook for some years.

• You were my best friend.
• We were friends.
• They were terrible human beings.
• My parents were my friends.

Note que estamos usando was y were para decir cuál fue o fue el sujeto en el pasado.

3. Per dire cosa stava facendo qualcuno in passato

Il terzo utilizzo di was ed were è per parlare di un’azione avvenuta in passato in un determinato momento. Qui si parla di ciò che il soggetto era o stava facendo in passato.

Examples:

• He was sleeping.
• I was talking to her last night.
• She was taking a class in the morning.
• It was running fast.
• Jacob was fighting yesterday.
• The company was going through a bad time last year.

• You were eating when I called.
• They were not studying properly.
• We were partying last night.
• My neighbors were playing loud music.
• Some people were fighting in the morning.

In the first two cases, was and were function as a linking verb (main verb), but here, was/were function as a helping verb (auxiliary verb).

Nota che stiamo usando was e dovevamo fare riferimento a un’azione che stava accadendo in passato a un certo punto. Se il momento dell’azione è già compreso o sconosciuto, non menzionarlo. Altrimenti, è importante parlare dei tempi dell’azione. Queste frasi sono al passato continuo.

ERA o ERA

Abbiamo già visto che è abbastanza facile selezionare il tema che utilizziamo con l’uso era o era.

• WAS = soggetto singolare
• WERE = soggetto plurale

• Soggetto singolare = pronomi di terza persona (He, she, it), pronomi di prima persona (solo ‘I’) e tutti i nomi dei nomi singolari
• Soggetto plurale = pronome di prima persona (noi), pronome di seconda persona (tu) e pronome di terza persona (loro), e tutti i nomi dei nomi plurali

Examples:

• Everyone was nice to me. ✅
• Everyone were nice to me. ❌
• Someone was following me last night. ✅
• Someone were following me last night. ❌
• Everything was beautiful. ✅
• Everything were beautiful. ❌
• Nobody was speaking in the class. ✅
• Nobody were speaking in the class. ❌

Advanced usages of ‘was’ and ‘were‘

1. Parlare di ciò che è stato fatto a qualcosa o qualcuno (passato indefinito, voce passiva)

Qui usiamo was e were per parlare di ciò che è stato fatto in passato. Le frasi qui sono nella voce passiva e l’attenzione è su chi o cosa è stato agito, non sull’autore dell’azione.

Active: He called a meeting.
Passive: A meeting was called (by him).

Active: Someone stole my cars last night.
Passive: My cars were stolen last night.

More examples:

• Some people were arrested last week.
• Your mother was taken to the hospital in the morning.
• The meeting was called off before I could reach there.
• This song was written last year.
• Many people were fired because of the pandemic.

2. If I was or If I were

Esta es una situación más en la que las personas se confunden sobre qué usar: was o were.

Se stai scrivendo una frase al congiuntivo, usiamo il verbo ‘were’ con soggetti singolari e plurali. Se nel modo congiuntivo si parla di una situazione immaginaria o irreale.

Examples:

• Se io fossiun cane, ti morderei.
• Se lui fossetuo padre, non te lo lascerebbe fare.
• Se io fossiricco, lei mi sposerebbe.
• Se lei fosse mia moglie, non la lascerei mai.
• Vorrei che fosseleale a lei.
• Avrebbe voluto che fossenata in una famiglia progressista.

Nota che tutte queste frasi si riferiscono ad alcune situazioni impossibili o irrealistiche. In questo caso non seguiamo l’accordo soggetto-verbo. Se usassi ‘era’ con un soggetto singolare, non sarebbe completamente sbagliato; tuttavia, sarebbe grammaticalmente errato.

Tuttavia, nelle conversazioni informali, possiamo usare ‘era’ con un soggetto singolare al congiuntivo.

• If I was rich, I wouldn’t live here.
• If he was good at speaking, he would get selected.
• If she was my girlfriend, I would never leave her.

More WAS and WERE examples

• I was in hurry when you called.
• She was furious last night.
• Jonny was about to cry when he was given the award.
• Most of my family members were present there.
• If I were a magician, I would pull a pigeon out of my pocket.
• He was in Rome last year.
• Nobody was listening to me in the meeting.
• Everyone was treated well in the party.

¡Prueba el siguiente ejercicio para comprobar tu comprensión del tema!

Practice set!

1. He __ looking for you last night.
2. She ___ upset with you.
3. I wish she __ my girlfriend.
4. If he __ my friend, I would not let him hang out with those guys.
5. Let’s suppose I __ with you right now. What would you do?
6. You brag about your home as if it __ a paradise.
7. Everything __ done properly.
8. I __ called out by a professional fighter.
9. You __ amazing last night.
10. Most people __ not taught about earning money.

Answers:

1. was
2. was
3. were
4. were
5. were
6. were
7. was
8. was
9. were
10. were