When to use was or were?

When to use was or were?

As I said above, was and were are in the past tense, but they are used differently. Was is used in the first person singular (I) and the third person singular (he, she, it). Were is used in the second person singular and plural (you, your, yours) and first and third person plural (we, they). I was driving to the park.

Was a singular or plural verb?

A singular verb is one that has an s added to it in the present tense, such as writes, plays, runs, and uses forms such as is, was, has, does. A plural verb does not have an s added to it, such as write, play, run, and uses forms such as are, were, have and do. E.g.

How do you use was and were in a sentence?

When to use were Whereas was is the singular past tense of to be, were is used for both the third person plural past tense (they and we) and the second person past tense (you). In the past indicative, were acts similar to was. “They were at the store,” you could say, for example.

Was and were subject verb agreement?

f) We (was/were) excited about the championship game. The basic rule is that a singular subject takes a singular verb, while a plural subject takes a plural verb.

Was or were after if?

If the verb in the if clause is “to be,” use “were,” even if the subject of the clause is a third person singular subject (i.e., he, she, it). See the examples below for an illustration of this exception: If I was a rich man, I would make more charitable donations.

Was in a sentence?

“She was happy about the news.” “She was very nice to us.” “The little boy was alone.” “The concert was amazing.”

Was or were after a list?

The straightforward answer is that, since there are two subjects, the subject is plural, and you should use were: Ann and Mark were at the baseball game.

Was and were with subject?

Once the subject has been identified, use was if the subject is singular and were if the subject is plural. Keep this rule in mind when trying to decide whether to use was, were or some other form of the verb to be. For example: There was a dog in the road.

Was and were in if?

If the verb in the if clause is “to be,” use “were,” even if the subject of the clause is a third person singular subject (i.e., he, she, it).