Was o Were

Comparando el presente simple del verbo to be con el pretérito simple

Si en el presente simple, el verbo to be tiene tres formas (am, is, are), en el pasado simple, tiene dos: was y were.

Was corresponde a la primera persona del singular (I) y a la tercera persona del singular (he, she, it); were se emplea para las demás personas (you, we, they).

I was at work.	Estaba en el trabajo
You were quite ill.	Estuviste realmente enfermo.
We were in Scotland last week	Estuvimos en Escocia la semana pasada

 

Comparemos la forma afirmativa del presente del verbo to be con el pasado:

 La forma afirmativa de to be en el presente simple es:

I am	I’m
you are	you’re
he is	he’s
she is	she’s
it is	it’s
we are	we’re
you are	you’re
they are	they’re

 

La forma afirmativa de to be en el pretérito simple es:

I was

you were

he was

she was

it was

we were

you were

they were

 

Was y were no se contraen con el pronombre

 

Tal como se puede apreciar, en el pretérito simple, no se forma una contracción entre el pronombre y el verbo to be. Tanto was como were aparecen solos.

You were in English class.	Estuviste en la clase inglés.
It was good.	Fue bueno.
They were at home.	Estuvieron en casa

 

Sin embargo, cuando la frase es negativa, la contracción se hace entre was y not y were y not:

I was not	I wasn’t
You were not	You weren’t
He was not	He wasn’t
She was not	She wasn’t
It was not	It wasn’t
We were not	We weren’t
You were not	You weren’t
They were not	They weren’t

 

Por ejemplo:

 

He wasn’t a member of the club.	No era socio del club.
It wasn’t cold.	No hacía frío.
They weren’t late.	No llegaron tarde.

 

Un “atajo lingüística” en forma de respuesta corta

 

Como siempre pasa en inglés, hay que cambiar el orden de la frase para hacer la pregunta. Con la respuesta podemos hacer un “atajo lingüística” al contestar con el verbo auxiliar, o sea con was o were:

 

Pregunta	Respuesta corta
Was I at home?	Yes, I was / No, I wasn’t
Were you at work?	Yes, you were / No, you weren’t
Was he Canadian?	Yes, he was / No, he wasn’t
Was she a doctor?	Yes, she was / No, she wasn’t
Was it sleeping?	Yes, it was / No, it wasn’t
Were we there?	Yes, we were / No, we weren’t
Were you ready?	Yes, you were / No, you weren’t
Were they studying?	Yes, they were / No, they weren’t

 

Aquí hay dos ejemplos de pasado continuo, pero da igual, si está el verbo to be, no hace falta utilizar ningún otro verbo auxiliar (como, por ejemplo, to do).

 

Otros tiempos verbales con was y were

 

Al ser el pasado del verbo to be, was y were funcionan como verbos auxiliares. Sirven para el pretérito simple y como acabamos de ver, también sirven para el pasado continuo:

 

I was sleeping.	Estaba durmiendo.
You were working.	Estabas trabajando.
We were studying.	Estábamos estudiando

 

y cualquier otra estructura que emplee el verbo to be como, por ejemplo, be going to en el pasado:

 

They were going to visit the museum.	Iban a visitar el museo.
He wasn’t going to help us.	Él no iba a ayudarnos.
When were you going to tell me?	¿Cuándo ibas a decírmelo?

 

o there to be en el pasado:

 

There was a dog in the street.	Había un perro en la calle.
There weren’t any cars.	No había coches.
Were there many people?	¿Había mucha gente?

 

 

Were con el subjuntivo pasado

También debemos notar que were se emplea para todas las personas del subjuntivo pasado:

 

If I were rich….	Si you fuera rico….
If you were here….	Si estuvieras aquí….
If they were nicer….	Si fueran más amables…

 

Estos ejemplos sirven para explicar – aunque de forma breve – las diferencias entre el uso de was y were.