Was: meaning, definitions and examples
๐ฐ๏ธ
was
[ wษz ]
simple past
The word 'was' is the simple past tense of 'be'. It is used to indicate existence or occurrence in the past. It can refer to a state of being or an event that happened previously.
Synonyms
Examples of usage
- She was happy at the party.
- They were late to the meeting.
- He was a doctor before retirement.
auxiliary verb
'Was' is used as an auxiliary verb to form the past progressive tense. It combines with the present participle of other verbs to indicate ongoing action in the past.
Synonyms
Examples of usage
- I was studying all night.
- They were playing football when it started to rain.
- She was working on her project.
Translations
Translations of the word "was" in other languages:
๐ต๐น era
๐ฎ๐ณ เคฅเคพ
- เคนเฅเค
- เคนเฅเค
๐ฉ๐ช war
๐ฎ๐ฉ adalah
๐บ๐ฆ ะฑัะฒ
- ะฑัะปะฐ
- ะฑัะปะพ
- ะฑัะปะธ
๐ต๐ฑ byล
- byลa
- byลo
- byli
๐ฏ๐ต ใ ใฃใ
๐ซ๐ท รฉtait
๐ช๐ธ fue
๐น๐ท idi
๐ฐ๐ท ์์๋ค
๐ธ๐ฆ ูุงู
๐จ๐ฟ byl
- byla
- bylo
๐ธ๐ฐ bol
- bola
- bolo
- boli
๐จ๐ณ ๆฏ
๐ธ๐ฎ bil
- bila
- bilo
๐ฎ๐ธ var
๐ฐ๐ฟ ะฑะพะปะดั
๐ฌ๐ช แแงแ
- แแงแ
- แแงแ
๐ฆ๐ฟ idi
๐ฒ๐ฝ fue
Etymology
The word 'was' originates from the Old English 'wรฆs', which is the past tense form of 'beon', meaning 'to be'. The root 'be' can be traced back to the Proto-Germanic '*was' and ultimately to the Proto-Indo-European root '*bheu-', which means 'to be, exist, grow'. 'Was' has undergone various phonetic and morphological changes throughout English's evolution, retaining its essential function as a past tense form. It is critical for expressing past states and actions in English and remains one of the most frequently used verbs in the language.