was / were過去の「〜でした」を表す

要点

文法の意味

was / were は、be動詞の過去形で「〜でした」「〜にいました」を表す

am / is → was、are → were に変わります。There was / There were で過去の存在も表せます。

文法の形

肯定・否定・疑問の3つの形があります。

肯定
主語 + was / were + 名詞のまとまり / 形容詞 / 場所

I was tired.

否定
主語 + was / were + not + 名詞のまとまり / 形容詞 / 場所

I wasn't hungry.

疑問
Was / Were + 主語 + 名詞のまとまり / 形容詞 / 場所?

Were you at school?

文法のルール

1

I / he / she / it / 単数名詞は was、you / we / they / 複数名詞は were。

I were tired.

I was tired.

普通の過去の文では、I / he / she / it / 単数名詞には was、you / we / they / 複数名詞には were を使います。If I were ... は仮定法です。

2

「〜した」という動作は一般動詞の過去形だけで表す。was を足さない。

I was go to the park.

I went to the park.

「〜に行った」のように動作を表すときは、was / were を足さず、一般動詞の過去形 went だけを使います。

3

否定は was / were の直後に not を置く。

She not was busy.

She was not busy. / She wasn't busy.

否定文では was / were の直後に not を置きます。not を主語の前に置く形は使えません。

4

There was / There were は後ろの名詞の数で使い分ける。

There was many people at the park.

There were many people at the park.

There was / There were は後ろの名詞の数で使い分けます。many people のような複数名詞には were を使います。