4.6 Grammar: Past Tense, Part 2 – Быть
Люби́мая Грамма́тика
You learned there is no present tense form of the verb ‘to be’ in Russian, but the same is not true for past tense. The infinitive ‘to be’ is: быть.
The past tense for ‘быть’ is formed just the same as other verbs – by dropping the infinitive -ть ending and adding -л, -ла́, -ло, -ли, depending on the gender and number of the subject with which it agrees. Pay attention to shifting stress in the past tense forms for ‘быть’.
| -(он) |
был |
| -(она) |
была́ |
| -(оно) |
бы́ло |
| -(они) |
бы́ли |
Read the following examples:
| -Где вы бы́ли вчера́? |
‘Where were you yesterday?’ |
| -Я была́ на рабо́те? А вы? |
‘I was at work. And you?’ |
| -Я был до́ма. Отдыха́л. |
‘I was at home. I was resting.’ |
| -Вы бы́ли в Росси́и? |
‘Were you in Russia?’ / ‘Have you been to Russia?’ |
| -Да, была́. |
‘I was at work. And you?’ |
| Сего́дня хорошо́. Вчера́ бы́ло ужа́сно! |
‘Today is good. Yesterday was terrible!’ |
| -Кто был на уро́ке? |
‘Who was in class?’ |
| -Все студе́нты бы́ли на уро́ке вчера́. |
‘All students were in class yesterday.’ |
| -Ве́ра то́же была́? |
‘Was Vera also there?’ |
| -Да, была́. |
‘Yes, she was.’ |
