Past Simple del verbo essere (to be)

In poche parole

Il Past Simple si utilizza per parlare di azioni iniziate e concluse nel passato. In italiano le forme verbali che corrispondono al Past Simple sono l'imperfetto, il passato prossimo ed il passato remoto, a seconda dei contesti. Con il Past Simple troverai frequentemente espressioni di tempo che marcano la fine di un'azione, quali: yesterday, five minutes/a month ago, last year, last summer e molte altre.

Info 1: La forma affermativa e negativa di to Be

La forma affermativa di to Be si costruisce nel seguente modo: soggetto + Was/Were. Was viene utilizzato per la prima e la terza persona singolare, mentre Were per tutte le altre. La forma negativa si costruisce aggiungendo il not dopo Was/Were. Pertanto sarà: soggetto + Was/Were + not.

Nota bene: Ricorda che Was/Were non hanno una forma contratta affermativa. Al contrario, posseggono una forma contratta negativa.

FORMA AFFERMATIVA	FORMA NEGATIVA	FORMA NEGATIVA CONTRATTA
I was	I was not	I wasn't
You were	You were not	You weren't
He/She/It was	He/She/It was not	He/She/It wasn't
We were	We were not	We weren't
You were	You were not	You weren't
They were	They were not	They weren't

Esempio

I was at home yesterday, I watched a film on Netflix.

Ero a casa ieri, ho guardato un film su Netflix.

He was not at the cinema last weekend, he was on holiday.

Lui non era al cinema lo scorso weekend, era in vacanza.

This restaurant wasn't one of my favorites.

Questo ristorante non era uno dei miei preferiti.

Info 2: La forma interrogativa di to Be

La forma interrogativa del verbo to Be si compone anteponendo Was/Were al soggetto. Pertanto, la costruzione della proposizione sarà la seguente: Was/Were + soggetto + complemento.

FORMA INTERROGATIVA	FORMA INTERROGATIVA NEGATIVA
Was I...?	Wasn't I...?
Were you...?	Weren't you...?
Was he/she/it...?	Wasn't he/she/it...?
Were we...?	Weren't we...?
Were you...?	Weren't you...?
Were they...?	Weren't they...?

Esempio

Were they the two famous Hollywood actors?

Erano loro i due famosi attori di Hollywood?

Wasn't he the only one who told me the truth?

Non è stato lui l'unico a dirmi la verità?

Info 3: Le risposte brevi

Le risposte brevi si compongono in questo modo: Yes/No + pronome personale soggetto + Was, Were / Wasn't, Weren't.

RISPOSTE BREVI AFFERMATIVE	RISPOSTE BREVI NEGATIVE
Yes, I was	No, I wasn't
Yes, you were	No, you weren't
Yes, he/she/it was	No, he/she/it wasn't
Yes, we were	No, we weren't
Yes, you were	No, you weren't
Yes, they were	No, they weren't

Esempio

Was the dinner at that famous restaurant good? Yes, it was.

Era buona la cena in quel famoso ristorante? Si, lo era.

Was Charles Dickens from the USA? No, he wasn't. He was from the UK.

Charles Dickens era degli Stati Uniti? No, non lo era. Era del Regno Unito.

Info 4: Le question words con il Past Simple di to Be

Le question words servono a formulare delle domande specifiche. La costruzione è la seguente: question word + Was/Were + soggetto.

Where	was	he?
When	was	your name day?
Who	were	they?
Why	were	the kids not at school?
How old	was	she?
What	was	her name?
How	was	your day?
Which	were	his shoes?

Esempio

Where was Jane last night? She was at a party.

Dov'era Jane la scorsa notte? Era ad una festa.

How old was Tom when he met Katie?

Quanti anni aveva Tom quando ha incontrato Katie?

Who was the man that first stepped on the moon?

Chi era l'uomo che per primo ha camminato sulla luna?

Info 5: There was e There were

There is e There are esprimono la presenza di oggetti, persone, animali al presente. Al passato invece si utilizzano There was e There were.

Esempio

There was an interesting documentary on TV last night.

C'era un documentario interessante in TV ieri sera.

There were a lot of dolphins in the water park we visited last week.

C'erano un sacco di delfini nel parco acquatico che abbiamo visitato la scorsa settimana.