Was et were sont les formes du passé (le prétérit, ou Past Simple) du verbe to be. On les utilise pour décrire comment les choses étaient dans le passé : où vous étiez, comment vous vous sentiez, quel temps il faisait ou quel âge avait quelqu'un. Ce sont parmi les mots les plus fréquents de l'anglais : bien les employer fait donc une vraie différence.

Bonne nouvelle : il n'y a que deux formes à apprendre, et le choix entre elles dépend uniquement du sujet.

Quand utilise-t-on was et were ?

Utilisez was et were pour parler de personnes, de choses, de lieux, de situations et d'états dans le passé — en somme, chaque fois que le verbe principal est to be :

  • Lieu : I was at home yesterday.
  • Sentiments : She was really happy.
  • Âge : She was five years old then.
  • Météo : It was cold last night.
  • Description : The film was boring.

Was ou were ? Choisir selon le sujet

La règle de base est simple : utilisez was avec un sujet au singulier et were avec un sujet au pluriel.

Sujet Nombre Forme Exemple
I singulier was I was tired.
he / she / it singulier was She was at work.
we pluriel were We were late.
they pluriel were They were friends.
you singulier ou pluriel were You were right.

Il n'y a qu'une exception : you prend toujours were, qu'il désigne une personne ou plusieurs — exactement comme il prend toujours are au présent (you are → you were).

En résumé : I, he, she, it → was et you, we, they → were.

Bonne nouvelle pour les francophones : en français, être change selon la personne (j'étais, tu étais, nous étions). En anglais, il n'y a que deux formes — was et were.

Former la négation

Pour former la négation, ajoutez simplement not après was ou were. À l'oral comme à l'écrit courant, on utilise presque toujours les formes contractées wasn't et weren't.

  • I wasn't hungry. (was not)
  • They weren't at school. (were not)
  • It wasn't easy.
  • We weren't ready.

Poser une question

Pour poser une question, placez was ou were devant le sujet :

  • Was she at the party?
  • Were you tired?
  • Where were they last night?
  • Why was he late?

Pour les réponses courtes, on reprend was ou were :

  • "Were you happy?" — "Yes, I was." / "No, I wasn't."
  • "Was it good?" — "Yes, it was." / "No, it wasn't."

There was et there were

Utilisez there was pour une seule chose (singulier) et there were pour plusieurs (pluriel) :

  • There was a problem with the car. (un problème)
  • There were lots of people there. (beaucoup de gens)
  • There wasn't any milk in the fridge.
  • There weren't any tickets left.

Les noms indénombrables — comme water, traffic ou money — prennent aussi was, même s'il y en a beaucoup :

  • There was some water on the floor.
  • There was a lot of traffic this morning.

À l'oral familier, on entend parfois There was lots of people … avec un pluriel, mais en anglais soigné, employez There were au pluriel.

Expressions de temps du passé fréquentes

Was et were apparaissent souvent avec des mots qui renvoient à un moment terminé :

yesterday · last night · last week · last year · two days ago · when I was a child

  • I was busy yesterday.
  • They were here last week.
  • She was shy when she was a child.

Erreurs fréquentes

  • ❌ You was late. → ✅ You were late. (you prend toujours were)
  • ❌ We was happy. → ✅ We were happy.
  • ❌ There were a car outside. → ✅ There was a car outside. (une voiture → was)
  • ❌ Was you at home? → ✅ Were you at home?

Petit test

Choisissez was ou were :

  1. The weather ____ beautiful yesterday.
  2. My parents ____ born in Italy.
  3. ____ you at the meeting?
  4. There ____ three messages for you.
Afficher les réponses
  1. was   2. were   3. Were   4. were

À retenir

  • Was et were sont le prétérit de to be : utilisez-les pour parler de personnes, de choses, de lieux, de situations et d'états dans le passé.
  • I / he / she / it → was et you / we / they → were.
  • Négation : wasn't et weren't. Question : was / were se place en premier.
  • There was pour une seule chose, there were pour plusieurs.