The Past Simple Tense - Be

Questions

Be comes before the subject in questions.

For closed questions (yes and no answers):

BE	Subject		Past		Yes/No	Subject	BE
Was	I	good	yesterday?	⇒	Yes,	you	were.
Were	you	tired	last week?	⇒	Yes,	I	was.
Was	he	at university	in 2012?	⇒	Yes,	he	was.
Was	she	a student	5 years ago?	⇒	No,	she	wasn't.
Was	it	a good car	10 years ago?	⇒	Yes,	it	was.
Were	we	helpful	last month?	⇒	Yes,	we	were.
Were	they	busy	earlier this morning?	⇒	No,	they	weren't.

For open questions (many possible answers) we use a question word:

Question	BE	Subject		Subject	BE	Answer
How	was	I?	⇒	You	were	good.
Where	were	you?	⇒	I	was	at work.
How	was	he?	⇒	He	was	OK.
Where	was	she?	⇒	She	was	in London.
What	was	it?	⇒	It	was	a rat.
Where	were	we?	⇒	We	were	at the beach.
How	were	they?	⇒	They	were	great.

Now try the quiz below!