I Was, I Had — Simple Past of "To Be" & "To Have" | Common Core Lesson

You already know the verb “to be” in the present (am/is/are) and “to have” (have/has). Today, we learn how to use both of them in the past!

The verb “to be” has two forms in the past: was and were.

I / He / She / It

was

You / We / They

were

Example

I was hungry this morning.
They were at the restaurant last night.

فعل “to be” له شكلان في الماضي: was مع I/he/she/it، وwere مع you/we/they. مثال: “I was hungry this morning.”

To ask a question, we move “was/were” to the front. To say “no,” we add “not”:

Example

Were you at home? No, I wasn’t.

Short Forms

was not = wasn’t. were not = weren’t.

لطرح سؤال، ننقل was/were إلى بداية الجملة. ولقول “لا”، نضيف “not”: wasn’t (was not) وweren’t (were not).

The verb “to have” is easy in the past — it becomes “had” for everyone, with no changes!

Remember

have / has → had (same for I, you, he, she, it, we, they)

Example

I had a big breakfast this morning.
She had two eggs for breakfast.

فعل “to have” سهل في الماضي، يصبح “had” لجميع الأشخاص بدون تغيير. مثال: “I had a big breakfast this morning.”

Unlike “to be,” we use “did/didn’t” for questions and negatives with “had”:

Example

Did you have breakfast? Yes, I did.
I didn’t have breakfast today.

على عكس “to be”، نستخدم “did/didn’t” مع “had” في الأسئلة والنفي، تماما مثل أي فعل عادي. مثال: “Did you have breakfast?”

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