Dalam penyusunan kalimat Bahasa Inggris terdapat 'to be' yang berfungsi untuk menyatakan keadaan waktu, identitas, sifat seseorang, atau sesuatu.
Jika kamu sering mendengar kata 'am', 'are', 'is', itu merupakan bentuk penggunaan to be dalam sebuah kalimat. Sama seperti to be tersebut, bedanya 'was' digunakan untuk membentuk kalimat lampau atau past tense.
Selain itu ada juga pasangan 'was' dalam past tense yaitu 'were'. Berikut penjelasan lengkap mengenai penggunaannya.
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Penggunaan Was dan Were dalam Past Tense
To be was dan were digunakan dalam kalimat simple past tense dan past continuous tense. Simple past tense menerangkan fakta pada masa lalu, sementara past continuous tense menjelaskan keadaan yang sedang terjadi di masa lalu.
Meskipun sama-sama digunakan untuk menjelaskan waktu lampau, was dan were berbeda pada penggunaan subjek kalimatnya. Was digunakan untuk subjek I (saya), he (dia laki-laki), she (dia perempuan), dan it (kata benda).
Sementara itu, were digunakan untuk subjek you (kamu), we (kita/kami), dan benda yang berjumlah banyak.
Penggunaan Was
Penggunaan was pada simple past tense hanya digunakan dalam bentuk nominal (kata sifat, benda). Sedangkan past continuous tense untuk kata kerja atau verb. Agar lebih mudah memahaminya, berikut rumus tabel penggunaan was:
Simple Past Tense | Past Continuous Tense | |
Kalimat Positif | Subject (I/he/she/it) + was + nominal | Subject (I/he/she/it) + was + verb-ing |
Kalimat Negatif | Subject (I/he/she/it) + was + not + nominal | Subject (I/he/she/it) + was + not + verb-ing |
Kalimat Tanya | Was + subject (I/he/she/it) + nominal | Was + subject (I/he/she/it) + verb-ing |
Contoh Penggunaan Was dalam Simple Past Tense
- He was not at the meeting last Monday.
(Dia tidak berada di pertemuan minggu lalu) - She was very tired after the long journey.
(Dia sangat Lelah setelah perjalanan panjangnya) - I was at the beach last weekend.
(Aku ada di pantai minggu lalu) - Was she happy with the results?
(Apakah dia senang dengan hasilnya?) - Was he at the party last night?
(Apakah dia ada di pesta semalam?) - Was it cold yesterday?
(Apakah kemarin begitu dingin?)
Contoh Penggunaan Was dalam Past Continuous Tense
- I was reading a book when you called.
(Aku sedang membaca buku ketika kamu menelepon) - He was playing football when it started to rain.
(Dia sedang bermain sepak bola ketika mulai hujan) - She was not watching TV at that time.
(Dia tidak sedang menonton TV pada waktu itu) - It was not snowing last night.
(Tidak sedang turun salju tadi malam) - Was I talking too loudly?
(Apakah saya sedang berbicara terlalu keras?) - Was it raining when you left the house?
(Apakah waktu itu hujan ketika kamu meninggalkan rumah?)
Penggunaan Were
Sama dengan was, were juga digunakan pada simple past tense hanya digunakan dalam bentuk nominal (kata sifat, benda). Sedangkan past continuous tense untuk kata kerja atau verb.
Bedanya dia digunakan untuk subjek you (kamu), we (kami/kita), dan they (kalian). Berikut tabel rumus agar lebih mudah memahaminya.
Simple Past Tense | Past Contunious Tense | |
Kalimat Positif | Subject (you/we/they) + were + nominal | Subject (you/we/they) + were + verb-ing |
Kalimat Negatif | Subject (you/we/they) + were + not + nominal | Subject (you/we/they) + were + not + verb-ing |
Kalimat Tanya | Were + subject (you/were/they) + nominal | Were + subject (you/were/they) + verb-ing |
Contoh Penggunaan Were dalam Simple Past Tense
- We were very excited about the trip.
(Kami sangat bersemangat tentang perjalanan itu) - You were a great help during the event.
(Kamu sangat membantu selama acara tersebut) - They were not at home last night.
(Mereka tidak berada di rumah tadi malam) - We were notsatisfied with the service.
(Kami tidak puas dengan layanan tersebut) - Were we supposed to bring our own food?
(Apakah kami seharusnya membawa makanan sendiri?)
Contoh Penggunaan Were dalam Past Continuous Tense
- The children were playing in the garden all afternoon.
(Anak-anak sedang bermain di taman sepanjang sore) - You were not paying attention in class.
- (Kamu tidak sedang memperhatikan di kelas)
- Were we talking too loudly?
(Apakah kami sedang berbicara terlalu keras?)
Itu dia ulasan lengkap mengenai to be was dan were. Mudah dipahami bukan?
(khq/khq)