was
verb/wəz/ · /wɒz/
Etymology
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”).
First person, Indicative, Past first-person singular simple past indicative of be.
- I was castigated and scorned.
Indicative, Past, Third person third-person singular simple past indicative of be.
- It was a really humongous slice of cake.
- I killed my poor father, Tuesday was a week, for doing the like of that.1915, John Millington Synge, The Playboy of the Western World, section I:
1 more example
- He saw it clear enough, now that the lordling had pointed it out. “They couldn't have froze. Not if the Wall was weeping. It wasn't cold enough."1996 August 1, George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire; 1), HarperCollins, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 16:
Colloquial Used in phrases with existential there when the semantic subject is (usually third-person) plural.
- There was three of them there.
- And in the vppermoſt baſket there was of all maner of †bake-meats foꝛ Pharaoh,and the birds did eat them out of the baſket vpon my head.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Gen 40:17:
Colloquial, Indicative, Nonstandard, Past, Second person second-person singular simple past indicative of be; were.
African-American Vernacular
- You was pleased to cast a favourable eye upon me.1748, [Samuel Richardson], “Letter XXXIII”, in Clarissa. Or, The History of a Young Lady: […], volume (please specify |volume=I to VII), London: […] S[amuel] Richardson; [a]nd sold by John Osborn, […], →OCLC:
- "Was you outside the Bank of England, sir?"1913, Arthur Conan Doyle, “(please specify the page)”, in The Poison Belt […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:
Colloquial, First person, Indicative, Nonstandard, Past first-person plural simple past indicative of be; were.
- “What happened here, Hadley?” the chief asked. “We was robbed, damn it, we was robbed.”2001, Darrel Rachel, The Magnolias Still Bloom, page 104:
Colloquial, Indicative, Nonstandard, Past, Third person third-person plural simple past indicative of be; were.
African-American Vernacular
- When the reflection in the glass that I held to my lips now baby / Revealed the tears that was on my face, yeah1968, Etta James, Ellington Jordan, Billy Foster, “I'd Rather Go Blind”, performed by Etta James:
- Take or be taken. Get yours or get got. It was the code of the streets and I'd lived by it. The way things was looking, I was prolly gone die by it too.2006, Noire [pseudonym], Thug-A-Licious: An Urban Erotic Tale, New York, N.Y.: One World, Ballantine Books, →ISBN, page 24: