was

/wəz/

was

English Verb Top 25
American (Amy) (medium)
Female 0.5s
American (Ryan) (medium)
Male 0.2s
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Definição

first-person singular simple past indicative of be.

Etimologia

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”).

Frases de exemplo

  • "I was castigated and scorned."
  • "It was a really humongous slice of cake."
  • "I killed my poor father, Tuesday was a week, for doing the like of that."
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