Grammatikguide

Hvad er det?

Datidsformerne af to be er was og were.

Brug was med:

• I
• he
• she
• it

Brug were med:

• you
• we
• they

Eksempler:

• I was tired.
• She was at home.
• We were busy.
• They were happy.

Nægtelsesformerne er was not og were not.

De almindelige korte former er:

• was not → wasn’t
• were not → weren’t

Hvornår bruges det?

Brug datid af to be til at tale om:

• tidligere tilstande: I was tired.
• tidligere følelser: She was nervous.
• tidligere steder: They were at school.
• tidligere aldre: He was ten years old.
• tidligere beskrivelser: The room was small.
• tidligere situationer: We were very busy.
• tidligere datoer og tidspunkter: It was Monday.

Struktur

Bekræftende sætninger

Struktur:

subjekt + was/were + prædikatsord

• He was tired.
• We were late.

Nægtende sætninger

Struktur:

subjekt + was not/were not + prædikatsord

• I wasn’t hungry.
• They weren’t ready.

Spørgsmål

Struktur:

Was/Were + subjekt + prædikatsord?

• Was she at home?
• Were they tired?
• Were you busy?

Korte svar

• Was he late? — Yes, he was.
• Was she tired? — No, she wasn’t.
• Were they at school? — Yes, they were.
• Were you busy? — No, I wasn’t.

Eksempler

1. I was very tired yesterday.
2. She was at the office this morning.
3. He wasn’t ready for the meeting.
4. It was cold last night.
5. We were happy with the result.
6. You were very quiet yesterday.
7. They weren’t at home.
8. Was your brother at school?
9. Were the shops open?
10. Where were you last weekend?

Undtagelser

Brug were i stedet for was i nogle formelle eller uvirkelige udtryk med I, he, she eller it.

• If I were you, I would wait.
• I wish she were here.

I uformel engelsk bruges was nogle gange i disse udtryk, men were er standardformen.

Almindelige fejl

1. Forkert: I were tired yesterday. Korrekt: I was tired yesterday. Forklaring: Brug was med I.

2. Forkert: They was at home. Korrekt: They were at home. Forklaring: Brug were med they.

3. Forkert: She didn’t be happy. Korrekt: She wasn’t happy. Forklaring: Brug ikke didn’t med datid af to be.

4. Forkert: Did he was at work? Korrekt: Was he at work? Forklaring: Brug ikke did i spørgsmål med was eller were.

5. Forkert: We wasn’t ready. Korrekt: We weren’t ready. Forklaring: Brug weren’t med we.

6. Forkert: Were she at school? Korrekt: Was she at school? Forklaring: Brug was med she.

7. Forkert: I was not at home? Korrekt: Was I not at home? Forklaring: Sæt was foran subjektet for at danne et spørgsmål.

8. Forkert: They were not tired? Korrekt: Weren’t they tired? Forklaring: I spørgsmål skal were eller weren’t stå foran subjektet.