was

Meaning

  1. (first-person, form-of, indicative, past, singular) first-person singular simple past indicative of be.
  2. (form-of, indicative, past, singular, third-person) third-person singular simple past indicative of be.
  3. (colloquial) Used in phrases with existential there when the semantic subject is (usually third-person) plural.
  4. (colloquial, form-of, indicative, nonstandard, past, second-person, singular) second-person singular simple past indicative of be; were.
  5. (colloquial, first-person, form-of, indicative, nonstandard, past, plural) first-person plural simple past indicative of be; were.
  6. (colloquial, form-of, indicative, nonstandard, past, plural, third-person) third-person plural simple past indicative of be; were.

be

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Synonyms

were
A1
is
A1
live
A1
stay
A1

used to be

be
A1
vase
C1
remained
C1

it was

Translations

war
wurde
worden
كان

ήμουν

ήταν

était
fu
fui

bû

era
era
había
fue

fùr

Frequency

A1
Pronounced as (IPA)
/wɒz/
Etymology

Inherited from Middle English
was
Inherited from Old English
wæs
Cognate with Scots
was
Cognate with Western Frisian
was
Cognate with Dutch
Dutch
was
Cognate with Low German
was
Cognate with German
German
war
Cognate with Swedish
var
Cognate with Kati
vos-
Cognate with Sanskrit
उवास
In summary

From Middle English was, from Old English wæs, from Proto-Germanic *was, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂we-h₂wós-e from *h₂wes- (“to reside”), whence also vestal. See also Scots was, West Frisian was (dated, wie is generally preferred today), Dutch was, Low German was, German war, Swedish var); also Kamkata-viri vos-, Sanskrit उवास (uvā́sa). The paradigm of “to be” has been since the time of Proto-Germanic a synthesis of three originally distinct verb stems. The infinitive form be is from Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- (“to become”). The forms is and are are both derived from Proto-Indo-European *h₁es- (“to be”). Lastly, the past forms starting with w- such as was and were are from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wes- (“to reside”).

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