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### 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.

| English | Polish Form |
|---|---|
| I was (masculine) | **byłem** |
| I was (feminine) | **byłam** |

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### 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.

| English | Polish Form |
|---|---|
| he / it was (masculine) | **był** |
| she / it was (feminine) | **była** |
| it was (neuter) | **było** |

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### 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.

| English | Polish Form |
|---|---|
| you were (masculine) | **byłeś** |
| you were (feminine) | **byłaś** |

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### 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.

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The past tense of to be (był)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

predicative

preposition

pronoun

proper noun

sentence

verb

This is (to jest)

The verb to be, singular (być)

Formal address (Pan, Pani)

Demonstrative pronouns (ten, ta, to)

Adjective agreement

Negation (nie)

Basic questions (czy, kto, co, gdzie, jak)

The verb to be, plural (być)

Present tense -m/-sz verbs

Reflexive verbs (się)

Coordinating conjunctions (i, a, ale)

Feminine direct objects (Accusative)

Inanimate direct objects (Accusative)

Animate masculine direct objects (Accusative)

Present tense verbs 2 (-ę, -isz / -ysz)

Expressing location (w, na)

Locative adjective agreement

Professions and nationalities (Instrumental)

Accompaniment (z + Instrumental)

Present tense verbs 3 (-ę, -esz)

Plural possessives (nasz, wasz)

Numbers 1 to 10

Genitive of possession

Genitive of negation

Lack or absence (nie ma)

Basic quantifiers (dużo, mało, trochę)

Liking things (podoba mi się)

Modal verbs (móc, musieć)

Subordinating conjunctions (bo, że)

Unidirectional motion verbs (iść, jechać)

Expressing age (mieć... lat)

Habitual motion (chodzić, jeździć)

Expressing destination (do)

Days of the week (poniedziałek, wtorek...)

Plural nouns for objects and animals

Plural nouns for people

Plural adjective agreement

Accusative object pronouns (go, ją, je...)

Singular past tense (-łem, -łam...)

Expressing age (mieć + lata / lat)

Plural past tense (-li / -ły)

Perfective past tense

Future tense (będę + infinitive)

Age: one year (mieć rok)

Prices and currency (złoty, grosz)

Destination (na + accusative)

Non-masculine plurals (-e, -y, -i)

Instrumental pronouns (ze mną, z tobą)

To know (znać vs wiedzieć)

The future perfective tense

The imperative mood

Months of the year (styczeń, luty)

Greetings and farewells (dzień dobry, cześć)

Introducing yourself (mam na imię)

Thank you and sorry (dziękuję, przepraszam)

Left, right, up and down (po lewej stronie)

Parts of the body (ręka, noga)

Parts of the day (dzień, noc, południe)

What is it like? (jaki, jaka, jakie)

Speaking Polish (mówić po polsku)

Instrumental for adjectives (dobrym, dobrą)

Please do... (proszę + infinitive)

Interests (interesować się + Instrumental)

Can one? (można, trzeba, nie wolno)

By bus or by train (jechać autobusem)

Where are you from? (jestem z Polski)

Where exactly? (obok, przy, przed, za, pod, nad)

What time is it? (Która godzina?)

Not seeing her (go, jej, ich; niego, niej, nich)

When I have time (kiedy as a conjunction)

Irregular past stems (miał, mieli)

The verb 'iść' in the past (szedł, szli)

Imperfective future (będę odpoczywał)

Past aspect (robił vs zrobił)

Future aspect (będzie malował vs pomaluje)

Perfective motion with po- (pójść, pojechać)

Arrival verbs with przy- (przyjść, przyjechać)

Departure verbs with wy- (wyjść, wyjechać)

The Vocative case (Panie, Mamo)

Plural possessives (moi, moje)

Reflexive possessive pronouns (swój)

Genitive plural of masculine nouns (-ów, -y, -i)

Genitive plural of feminine and neuter nouns

Genitive plural of adjectives (-ych, -ich)

Accusative plural of masculine personal nouns

Numbers 2, 3, and 4

Question	Answer
yesterday	wczoraj
alone / himself (emphatic) / pure / nothing but	sam
Yesterday I was at home alone.	Wczoraj byłem w domu sam.
Yesterday I was in the cinema with my brother.	Wczoraj byłam w kinie z moim bratem.
long	długi
boring	nudny
This article was very long and boring.	Ten artykuł był bardzo długi i nudny.
party	impreza
Was this party boring?	Czy ta impreza była nudna?
great	świetny
The party was great, but I was there alone.	Impreza była świetna, ale byłem tam sam.
terrible	okropny
The weather was terrible, there was no sun.	Pogoda była okropna, nie było słońca.
then	wtedy
He was sick and very sad back then.	Był wtedy chory i bardzo smutny.
ready	gotowy
Were you ready for this long walk yesterday?	Czy byłeś wczoraj gotowy na ten długi spacer?
calm	spokojny
Back then I was calm, but today I am very tired.	Wtedy byłam spokojna, ale dzisiaj jestem bardzo zmęczona.
This restaurant was terrible, and the dinner was not ready.	Ta restauracja była okropna, a obiad nie był gotowy.
Were you in the new theater with your wife then, sir?	Czy był pan wtedy w nowym teatrze z żoną?
Our great boss was at the meeting yesterday.	Nasz świetny szef był wczoraj na spotkaniu.
My weekend was very calm.	Mój weekend był bardzo spokojny.