3.6.1.2. - Past tense (to be)

Past tense do verbo 'to be'
Veja os gráficos. Repare que não há contrações nas frases afirmativas com o verbo to be no passado.

Passado do verbo to be: frases afirmativas
 

	Pronome pessoal do caso reto	be
	I	was	a computer programmer.
	You	were	a computer programmer.
	He	was	a computer programmer.
	She
	It	was	difficult work.
	We	were	computer programmers.
	You
	They

Frases negativas são formadas com e sem contração do verbo. Use as contrações preferencialmente no inglês falado, a menos que queira enfatizar a negativa not.

Passado do verbo to be: frases negativas
 

Sem contração				Com contração
Sujeito + to be	not			Pronome pessoal do caso reto	be + not
I was	not	a manager.		I	wasn't	a manager.
You were	not	a manager.		You	weren't	a manager.
He was	not	a manager.		He	wasn't	a manager.
She was				She
It was	not	easy work.		It	wasn't	easy work.
We were	not	managers.		You	weren't	managers.
You were				We
They were				They

Formar perguntas no passado invertendo a ordem de sujeito e verbo.
 

	A: Were you a supervisor?     B: Yes, I was.						Você era um supervisor? Sim, eu era.
	A: Was he a manager? B: No, he wasn't.						Ele era um gerente? Não, não era.
	A: How was it? B: It was difficult.						Como era? Era difícil.