THE PAST - He, she it was

Once again we'll see that, once we know the past tense 'I form' of a verb we can find the he/she/it forms every time

Let's go back again to the male form of "I was":

I was -

We'll drop the 'łem' (or 'łam') to get the following:

He was - Był
She was - Była
It was - Było

Once again we're seeing that 'a' associated with feminine and 'o' associated with neuter.

So how would you say:

He was in town -
She was in the chemist/drug store -

Take your time to think out the 'he/she' forms of the following..

Thinking these out, rather than trying to remember them, makes learning faster.

He lived in Warsaw -
She remembered -
He had a new car -
She was looking for my house -
He liked it -
She thought that she had a problem -
He had to go to town -

Now try asking these questions:

Did he live in Warsaw? -
Did she remember -
Did he have a new car? -
Was she in the supermarket? -
Was he looking for my house? -
Did she think that she had a problem? -
Did he like it? -
Did she have to go to town? -

When we say 'it was' we'll use the gender of the noun (if there is a noun) to decide what version of 'był' to use.

It was a good plan -
It was a new computer -
It was a chemist / drug store -

We only use 'było' when there is no noun like this:

What was it? - Co to było?

So how would you say:

I know what it was -
It was bad -
It was tragic -

Present and Past Tense

Click and drag the phrases or words into their correct tenses.

Drag and drop all the dark blue boxes to their correct locations

Make sure your sound is turned on to hear the audio during this exercise

Match these translations of past tenses

Tap on each pair to make them disappear.

Make sure your sound is turned on to hear the audio during this exercise

on mieszkał w warszawie

he was

ona miała

ona pamiętała

on musiał

she remembered

on lubił to

ona szukała

he liked it

ona była

she was

it was

she looked for

she thought

she had

he lived in Warsaw

to było

ona myślała

on był

he had to

Think out the Polish

Practice the sentences from the lesson.

Make sure your sound is turned on to hear the audio during this exercise

He was	q3\|Był

She was	q3\|Była

It was	q3\|Było

He was in town	q3\|On był w mieście

She was in the drug store	q3\|Ona była w aptece

He lived in Warsaw	q3\|On mieszkał w Warszawie

She remembered	q3\|Ona pamiętała

He had a new car	q3\|On miał nowy samochód

She was looking for my house	q3\|Ona szukała mojego domu

He liked it	q3\|On lubił to

She thought that she had a problem	q3\|Ona myślała, że miała problem

He had to go to town	q3\|On musiał iść do miasta

Did he live in Warsaw?	q3\|Czy on mieszkał w Warszawie?

Did she remember?	q3\|Czy ona pamiętała?

Did he have a new car?	q3\|Czy on miał nowy samochód?

Was she in the supermarket?	q3\|Czy ona była w supermarkecie?

Was he looking for my house?	q3\|Czy on szukał mojego domu?

Did she think that she had a problem?

Did he like it?	q3\|Czy on lubił to?

Did she have to go to town?	q3\|Czy ona musiała iść do miasta?

It was a good plan	q3\|To był dobry plan

It was a new computer	q3\|To był nowy komputer

It was a chemist/drug store	q3\|To była apteka

What was it?	q3\|Co to było?

I know what it was	q3\|Wiem co to było

It was bad	q3\|To było złe

It was tragic	q3\|To było tragiczne