“Be” is one of the most necessary and commonly used verbs in the English language that you simply cannot live without. Below we explore its past tense usage.
The verb “be” is one of the so-called irregular verbs that we have to memorize. Fortunately, all the forms of this verb are exactly the same.
BE verbs forms:
| Infinitive | Past Tense | Past Participle |
| Be | Was/Were | Been |
Simple past: „Was/were“
The 2nd form (past tense of the verb “to be”) can occur in two forms:
- I, he, she, it – was
- You, we, they – were
The following example will make this clear:
- She was a student.
- They were doctors.
The following table may also help:
Examples:
- I was young.
- We were at home.
Past participle: ‘been’
The 3rd form of the verb “to be” has only one form, regardless of the person.
Although this form of the word is not often used, it is necessary to understand when the verb “be“ is used in the past simple tense (past tens of be), as well as when it’s used in the past perfect tense (past participle of be).
The 3rd form of the verb is used in the past perfect and present perfect. These are more complex tenses which are usually applied in longer sentences.
BE in the past perfect tense
The past perfect expresses events that took place before a certain point in the past. The past perfect tense combines the verb “be” with the additional verb “had”. The following example will provide more clarity as to how the past perfect tense is used.
Examples:
- I had never been to London until today.
- We had not been here before, so we did not know where to go for lunch.
BE in the present perfect tense
The present perfect expresses an event in the past with consequences in the present. The present perfect tense combines the verb “be” with the additional verb “have/has”. The following example will provide more clarity as to how the past perfect tense is used.
Examples:
- I have been here for ten minutes.
- There has been an accident.
Past continuous: ‘was beening’
The past continuous is formed by adding the verb “was” (for the singular of the 1st and 3rd person), or “were” (others). The suffix ‘-ing‘ is added to the end of the verb “be”.
The past continuous tense is used when an activity occurred in the past or when the activity happened at a certain moment in time.
Example:
- I was being in
- They were being inthe churche at that time
Look at:
- Auxiliary verb “to be”
- verb forms of BE (V1, V2, V3, V4, V5)
- Interrogative form of the BE verb
- Affirmative form of the BE verb
- Negative form of the BE verb