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Mannis Abrams
Dear english native speakers. How should I respond to a question like, for example:
" were you worried?"
1. Yes, I were.
or
2. Yes, I was.
Thank you!
Nov 3, 2023 5:24 PM
Answers · 6
3
The Simple Past conjugations of "to be":
I was
You were
He/she/it was
We were
You (plural) were
They were
November 3, 2023
2
"Yes, I was." The "worried" is implied in the response, so it's the same as: "Yes, I was (worried)." It's like past perfective in Russian, because you were worried in the past (at that time), and it's a completed action.
A past imperfective answer would be like: "I had been worrying," i.e. during that period of time, I was in the process of worrying.
November 3, 2023
1
Hi Mannis,
The proper response is, "Yes, I was." The reason for this is because the verb "to be" changes in the past tense depending on the pronoun. In the question to which you're providing a response, the pronoun is "you," so the proper verb is "were." But in the response, the pronoun is "I," so the correct form of "to be" is "was." I hope this clarifies things.
November 3, 2023
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Mannis Abrams
Language Skills
English, Hebrew, Russian
Learning Language
English
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