Guida grammaticale

Cos'è?

Le forme del passato semplice di to be sono was e were.

Usa was con:

• I
• he
• she
• it

Usa were con:

• you
• we
• they

Esempi:

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

Le forme negative sono was not e were not.

Le forme contratte comuni sono:

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

Quando si usa

Usa il passato semplice di to be per parlare di:

• stati passati: I was tired.
• sentimenti passati: She was nervous.
• luoghi passati: They were at school.
• età passate: He was ten years old.
• descrizioni passate: The room was small.
• situazioni passate: We were very busy.
• date e orari passati: It was Monday.

Struttura

Frasi affermative

Struttura:

soggetto + was/were + complemento

• He was tired.
• We were late.

Frasi negative

Struttura:

soggetto + was not/were not + complemento

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

Domande

Struttura:

Was/Were + soggetto + complemento?

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

Risposte brevi

• 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.

Esempi

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?

Eccezioni

Usa were invece di was in alcune espressioni formali o irreali con I, he, she o it.

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

Nell'inglese informale, a volte si usa was in queste espressioni, ma were è la forma standard.

Errori comuni

1. Errato: I were tired yesterday. Corretto: I was tired yesterday. Spiegazione: Usa was con I.

2. Errato: They was at home. Corretto: They were at home. Spiegazione: Usa were con they.

3. Errato: She didn’t be happy. Corretto: She wasn’t happy. Spiegazione: Non usare didn’t con il passato semplice di to be.

4. Errato: Did he was at work? Corretto: Was he at work? Spiegazione: Non usare did nelle domande con was o were.

5. Errato: We wasn’t ready. Corretto: We weren’t ready. Spiegazione: Usa weren’t con we.

6. Errato: Were she at school? Corretto: Was she at school? Spiegazione: Usa was con she.

7. Errato: I was not at home? Corretto: Was I not at home? Spiegazione: Metti was prima del soggetto per formare una domanda.

8. Errato: They were not tired? Corretto: Weren’t they tired? Spiegazione: Nelle domande, metti were o weren’t prima del soggetto.