Was: meaning, definitions and examples

๐Ÿ•ฐ๏ธ
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was

 

[ wษ”z ]

Verb
Context #1 | Verb

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

existed, happened, occurred

Examples of usage

  • She was happy at the party.
  • They were late to the meeting.
  • He was a doctor before retirement.
Context #2 | Verb

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

be, were

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:

๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡น era

๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ เคฅเคพ

๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ช war

๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ฉ adalah

๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฆ ะฑัƒะฒ

๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ฑ byล‚

๐Ÿ‡ฏ๐Ÿ‡ต ใ ใฃใŸ

๐Ÿ‡ซ๐Ÿ‡ท รฉtait

๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ fue

๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ท idi

๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ท ์žˆ์—ˆ๋‹ค

๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฆ ูƒุงู†

๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฟ byl

๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฐ bol

๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ณ ๆ˜ฏ

๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฎ bil

๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ธ var

๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ฟ ะฑะพะปะดั‹

๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ช แƒ˜แƒงแƒ

๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ฟ idi

๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฝ 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.