The past tense of to be (był)

The Past Tense of "To Be"

In Polish, the past tense works a bit differently than the present. Past tense verbs change not only based on who is doing the action (I, you, he/she/it), but also on the grammatical gender of the subject. Let's look at the singular forms of the verb być (to be).

I was (First Person)

When saying "I was", you must choose the form that matches your own gender. Male speakers use the masculine form, and female speakers use the feminine form. Time words like wczoraj (yesterday) are frequently used with these verbs.

He, She, It was (Third Person)

When talking about someone or something else, match the verb to the noun's grammatical gender. For example, use the masculine form for male people or masculine objects, and the feminine form for female people or feminine objects.

You were (Second Person)

Just like with "I", you must choose the informal "you" form based on the gender of the person you are speaking to.

Formal "You" in the Past

When addressing someone formally, you use pan (sir) or pani (madam). Because these are formal titles, they are treated grammatically just like "he" and "she". This means you use the third-person forms był and była instead of the second-person forms.