Was and were

What's in the lesson

1. 1Warm-up
2. 2In this lesson
3. 3Reading: Tom LongboatReading comprehension
4. 4What does it mean?Grammar exercise
5. 5Find was and wereGrammar exercise
6. 6was and wereGrammar rule
7. 7Questions and short answersGrammar exercise
8. 8A night in 1968Grammar exercise
9. 9Find the mistakeGrammar exercise
10. 10Questions for your teacherGrammar exercise
11. 11Say it naturallySpeaking practice
12. 12Who was it?Speaking practice
13. 13About youGrammar exercise
14. 14Wrap-up

Homework

1. 1Homework: my first carGrammar exercise
2. 2Homework: questions and answersGrammar exercise
3. 3Homework: make sentencesGrammar exercise
4. 4Homework: a person from the pastDiscussion

Two slides from the lesson

Warm-up

A few questions about you before we start.

1. Were you busy yesterday?
2. Who was your hero at age ten?
3. Who is a famous sports star from your country?

Grammar rule

was and were

	I / he / she / it	you / we / they
Positive	I was at the gym. She was a nurse.	We were in Rome. They were hungry.
Negative	It wasn't cold. (was not)	You weren't late. (were not)
Question	Was he at home? — Yes, he was. / No, he wasn't.	Were they tired? — Yes, they were. / No, they weren't.

With a question word: Where were you? When was the concert? How was the trip?

there was, there were

one thing, or an uncountable noun	two or more
There was a bank. There was some rain.	There were two banks.
There wasn't any rain.	There weren't any seats.
Was there a bank?	Were there any seats?

was born

I was born in 1995. My sister was born in Lima. Where were you born? (not I born, not I am born)

Watch out

• you takes were, also for one person: You were great! (not You was)
• there was / there were: look at the noun after it: There were three trains.
• Past time words: yesterday, last night, last year, two days ago, in 1907.

In a sentence, was and were are weak: "wuz", "wer". In a short answer at the end, they are strong: Yes, I WAS. weren't has one syllable: "WURNT".