What is the difference between 'was' & 'were'?

Question

I know they are both part tense.
Tell me more?
when do you use them.

What about when its a object like a chair?

or when your talking about yesterday and tommorow

Answer 1

"Was" is the form used when talking about the past ("past tense") if the subject of the sentence is clearly singular -- "I was" "he was", "she was", "it was", "Tom was", "The house was.."

If the subject is plural, or if it could be either, use "were"
"We were", "they were", "John and I were", "Ellen and Bill were",, , "The dogs were", "you were"

(The reason "you" uses the PLURAL verb form here is that "you" itself was ORIGINALLY just the plural form,. In Middle English and Early Modern English, in place of "you were" in the SINGULAR was "thou wast". In the 16th century the plural form began to be widely used for BOTH the singular and plural.)

All of these forms are simple "past tense indicative form", used to talk about facts. They would be used when talking about "yesterday".

To speak about tomorrow, use the "future indicative" -- this is not a special form of the verb itself, but is formed by adding the "helping verb" "will" (or sometimes "shall") to the "infinitive form" of the verb, in this case "(to) be". (The infinitive form does not change at all for singular or plural or anything else.) So you say, "Tomorrow I will be in the office all day."

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You may not need to worry about this next part right now, but in case you do --

There is another verb form besides the "indicative" that is used to express wishes or otherwise talk about something that is NOT the case. It is called the "subjunctive". When using the subjunctive, you use the form "were" whether the subject is plural OR singular.

That's why we say "If WERE a rich man, I wouldn't have to worry." "I wish I were taller."

Notice that in these sentences I am NOT speaking about things related to the past, but about things that I an imagining or would like to be the case NOW, but which is NOT. (These are sometimes called "contrary-to-fact" situations.).

To talk about a wish in the past the form is "If I HAD BEEN rich".

Answer 2

The conjugation of the past tense of the verb "to be" is

I was
You (in the singular sense) were
He (she, it) was
We were
You (plural sense) were
They were

In effect "was" is singular and "were" is plural, though as "you" can be singular or plural it increases the irregularity of a verb which is very irregular anyway.

I believe that English has more irregular verbs than any other language.

P.S. Tomorrow the usage is "will be" in all cases

Answer 3

Was is singular - one person or thing.
I was in school. The chair was on the patio. He was angry.
Were is more confusing.
Were is singular OR plural in the second person, ie 'you'
You were in school yesterday. (This can mean you alone or a number of you)
AND Were is plural (more than one person or thing) in the third person ie 'they'.
They were in school. The chairs were on the patio. They
were angry. .
Hope this helps. English is such a confusing language.

Answer 4

Was is for singular (i.e. one thing/person...etc.)
Were is for plural (i.e. more than one thing/person...etc.)

For objects, the same rules apply, let's use your example, chairs:

That WAS a chair. (singular)
Those WERE chairs. (plural)

For yesterday, it's WAS because it's singular because you are only talking about one day.
For example: "That was yesterday."

BUT if you use the words DAYS, it's WERE.
For example: "Those were the days."

You can't use it for tomorrow because tomorrow hasn't happened yet and was/were is the PAST TENSE of is.

Answer 5

Both are verbs.. The two can either be auxiliary or linking verbs depending how it is being used. "Was" is the past form of "is" and is used if it refers to a singular subject. On the other hand, "were" is the past form of "are" and is used if it refers to a plural subject.

Answer 6

I was
You were
he/she/it was
we were
they were.

Singular subject= was
Plural subject (and YOU, whether singular or plural) = were.
The same applies whether the subject is a person or an object.

Answer 7

The past time of be is was and were.

Singular
I was here yesterday.
You were here yesterday.
He was here yesterday.
She was here yesterday.
It was here yesterday.

Plural
We were here yesterday.
You were here yesterday.
They were here yesterday.

Examples:
The director was in a meeting from 2:00 to 3:00.
It was really hot in San Antonio yesterday.
The tacos were delicious.

Answer 8

WERE you sitting on that chair?
WAS yesterday the best day of your Life?

Answer 9

We use:
I was, She was, He was, It was

You were , They were

That means 'was' is singular while 'were' is plural with the exception that 'were' is used with 'you' even when referring to a person.

Answer 10

I was

It was. Or anything that could be replaced by 'it' - 'the dog was small', 'yesterday was great'.

He was. Or anything that could be replaced by 'he' - 'Fred was tired', 'the barman was slow'.

She was. Or anything that could be replaced by 'she' - 'Doris was happy', 'the waitress was clumsy'

We were

You were

They were. Or anything that could be replaced by 'they' - 'the chairs were uncomfortable', 'the people were singing'.