Нас было двое.

to be

Breakdown of Нас было двое.

• нас: us
• двое: two people

Questions & Answers about Нас было двое.

Why is it нас and not мы?

Because Russian commonly uses the pattern нас / вас / их + было / будет + collective numeral to say how many people were in a group.

So Нас было двое is the natural way to say there were two of us.

Using мы would sound much less idiomatic here. For a learner, it is best to memorize this as a set pattern:

• нас двое — there are two of us
• нас было двое — there were two of us
• нас будет двое — there will be two of us

What does было mean here?

Было is the past-tense form of быть, meaning to be.

So the sentence is literally built like:

• нас — us / of us
• было — was
• двое — two as a group

A natural English rendering is there were two of us.

In the present tense, Russian usually leaves out есть, so you would normally say:

• Нас двое — there are two of us

But in the past, you do need the verb:

• Нас было двое

Why is it было and not были?