Como usar Was e the em inglês?

Como usar WAS & WARE em inglês?

‘Was’ e ‘were’ são verbos que usamos no passado. Neste artigo, vamos dominar 3 usos diferentes de was e were e a diferença entre was e were.

Different usages of ‘was’ and ‘were‘

WAS e WERE são usados ​​no passado em três situações diferentes. Aqui estão as seguintes situações:

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. Para descrever uma pessoa ou uma coisa no passado

O primeiro uso de was ou were é para descrever uma pessoa não viva ou algo no passado. Aqui, usamos um adjetivo ou frase adjetiva depois de was ou were.

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. Para nomear/renomear uma pessoa ou coisa no passado

O segundo uso de was e were é para dar um nome a uma pessoa ou coisa no passado. Aqui, falamos sobre o que o assunto foi ou foi no passado. Usamos um substantivo ou sintagma nominal depois de was ou were.

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. Para dizer o que alguém estava fazendo no passado

O terceiro uso de was e were é para falar sobre uma ação que estava acontecendo no passado em um determinado momento. Aqui, falamos sobre o que o sujeito estava ou estava fazendo no passado.

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).

Observe que estamos usando was e were para se referir a uma ação que estava acontecendo no passado em algum momento. Se a hora da ação já for compreendida ou desconhecida, não a mencione. Caso contrário, é importante falar sobre o momento da ação. Essas frases estão no passado contínuo.

ERA ou ERAM

Já vimos que é bem fácil selecionar o tema que usamos com use was ou were.

• WAS = sujeito singular
• WARE = ​​assunto plural

• Sujeito singular = pronomes de terceira pessoa (Ele, ela, isso), pronomes de primeira pessoa (apenas ‘eu’) e todos os nomes de substantivos singulares
• Sujeito do plural = pronome de primeira pessoa (nós), pronome de segunda pessoa (você) e pronome de terceira pessoa (eles) e todos os nomes de substantivos no plural

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. Para falar sobre o que foi feito com algo ou alguém (passado indefinido, voz passiva)

Aqui, usamos was e were para falar sobre o que foi feito no passado. As sentenças aqui estão na voz passiva, e o foco está em quem ou o que foi acionado, não no autor da ação.

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 você estiver escrevendo uma frase no modo subjuntivo, usamos o verbo ‘were’ com sujeitos no singular e no plural. Eram no modo subjuntivo fala de uma situação imaginária ou irreal.

Examples:

• Se eu fosseum cachorro, eu morderia você.
• Se ele fosseseu pai, ele não deixaria você fazer isso.
• Se eu fosse rico, ela se casaria comigo.
• Se ela fosse minha esposa, eu nunca a deixaria.
• Gostaria que ele fosseleal a ela.
• Ele gostaria que ela nascesseem uma família progressista.

Observe que todas essas frases se referem a algumas situações impossíveis ou irreais. Não seguimos a concordância sujeito-verbo neste caso. Se você usasse ‘was’ com um sujeito singular, não estaria completamente errado; no entanto, seria gramaticalmente incorreto.

No entanto, em conversas informais, podemos usar ‘was’ com um sujeito singular no modo subjuntivo.

• 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