Irregular verb
be
/biː/
- Base
- be
- Past simple
- was / were
- Past participle
- been
Usage
was goes with I/he/she/it and were goes with you/we/they; been is the participle used after have/has/had.
Meaning
- to exist or describe a state
Example
They were ready for the test.
I was tired after the flight.
We have been friends since childhood.
Teaching note
Be is unusually flexible: its present forms change with the subject, its past forms are was and were, and its participle been follows have or has.
Common mistake
Do not use was after have: ‘She has was busy’ combines two different tense patterns.
Correction: Use ‘She was busy’ for a finished past state, or ‘She has been busy’ when the state connects to the present.