Вторая форма глагола be

Кратко: вторая форма (V2) глагола to be — это was / were (Past Simple).

Как распределяется:

• I, he, she, it → was
  I was, He was, She was, It was

• you, we, they → were
  You were, We were, They were

Отрицания:

• was not = wasn’t

• were not = weren’t
  Примеры: I wasn’t at home yesterday. / They weren’t ready.

Вопросы (инверсия):

• Was he late?

• Were they at school?

There was / there were:

• There was a problem. (одно)

• There were two problems. (множественное)

Особый случай — сослагательное:

• В гипотетических ситуациях часто используется were со всеми лицами:
  If I were you… (хоть обычно с “I” в прошедшем стоит was, в условных — устойчиво were).

Сопоставление с 3-й формой (V3):

• V3 у to be — been (для Perfect): I have been there.

Примеры в контексте:

• Вчера я устал: I was tired yesterday.

• Мы были на встрече: We were at the meeting.

• Он не был готов: He wasn’t ready.

• Были ли они дома? Were they at home?