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### The Past Tense of "To Be"

In Russian, the verb "to be" (**быть**) is usually skipped in the present tense. However, in the past tense, you must use it explicitly.

Unlike English, past tense verbs in Russian do not change based on the person (I, you, they). Instead, they change based on the **gender** and **number** of the subject.

| Subject | Past Tense Form |
| --- | --- |
| Masculine | **был** |
| Feminine | **была** |
| Neuter | **было** |
| Plural | **были** |

### Talking About the Past

Match the verb to your subject. Since **мы** (we) is plural, it takes **были**.

{{item:897891}}

To make a past tense sentence negative, place **не** directly before the verb. Ivan is masculine, so he takes **был**.

{{item:897892}}

You will often use words like **позавчера** (the day before yesterday) or **недавно** (recently) to set the scene. 

The word for weather (**погода**) is feminine, taking **была**:

{{item:897895}}

Neuter nouns, like the sea (**море**), take **было**:

{{item:897899}}

### Describing How Things Used to Be

When using **это** (this/that/it) to point something out, the past tense of **быть** matches the noun you are identifying. Because city (**город**) is masculine, "this was a city" uses **был**:

{{item:897902}}

However, when describing an abstract situation without naming a specific noun (like "it was a long time ago"), default to the neuter form **было**:

{{item:897905}}

The past tense of to be (был, была, было, были)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

predicative

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Presentative (это)

Noun gender

Soft-sign nouns (-ь)

Subject pronouns (я, ты, он...)

Yes/no questions (да / нет)

Basic interrogatives (кто / что)

Basic negation (не)

Coordinating conjunctions (и / а)

Possessive pronouns (мой, твой, наш, ваш)

Demonstrative pronouns (этот, эта, это)

Adjective agreement

Which and whose (какой, чей)

First conjugation verbs, singular (-ать)

First conjugation verbs, plural (-ать)

Second conjugation verbs (-ить)

Irregular present tense verbs

Adverbs of manner (как, очень)

Locations in prepositional case (в / на)

Prepositional case modifiers (-ом, -ой)

Topics of speech (о, об)

Direct objects (-у, -ю)

Direct object pronouns (меня, тебя)

Verbs of motion (идти, ехать)

Destination (куда, в, на)

Plural nouns (-ы, -и, -а, -я)

Irregular plural nouns (друзья, дети)

Plural adjectives and pronouns (-ые, -ие)

Numbers 1 to 10 (один, два, три)

Possession with pronouns (у меня есть)

Possession with nouns (-а, -я, -ы, -и)

Genitive of negation (нет)

Numbers 2, 3, and 4

Quantities with mass nouns (сколько, много, мало)

Animate direct objects

Regular past tense verbs

Time sequence expressions (вчера, завтра, раньше, потом)

Verb aspect in the past tense

Dative personal pronouns (мне, тебе, ему)

Expressing likes (нравится, нравятся)

Absence (нет)

Expressing age (год, года, лет)

Indirect objects (-у, -ю, -е)

Modal verbs (хотеть, мочь)

Reason and contrast (поэтому, но)

Double negation (ничего, никогда)

Reflexive verbs (-ся, -сь)

Polite requests and instructions (-ите, -йте)

Days of the week (в + Accusative)

Compound future tense (буду...)

Simple future tense

Accompaniment (с)

Multidirectional verbs of motion (ходить, ездить)

Greetings and goodbyes (здравствуйте, привет)

Thank you and sorry (спасибо, извините)

Countries and languages (русский, английский)

Meeting people (меня зовут, как дела)

Public transport (трамвай, остановка)

Left, right and the compass (слева, справа)

Places in the city (цирк, зоопарк)

Fruit and vegetables (помидор, огурец)

Post and travel (открытка, чемодан)

Family and relatives (внук, родственник)

Jobs and professions (инженер, продавец)

Sport and games (футбол, теннис)

Describing people (умный, сильный)

Health and the body (болен, здоровье)

The months of the year (январь, февраль)

Accusative feminine and inanimate adjectives (-ую, -юю)

Accusative animate masculine adjectives (-ого, -его)

Short-form adjectives (готов, занят)

Personal obligation (должен, должна)

Professions in the instrumental case

Genitive singular adjectives and possessives

Prepositions of absence and purpose (без, для)

Dative singular adjectives and possessives

Impersonal states (мне холодно)

Impersonal obligation (надо, нужно)

Impersonal permission (можно / нельзя)

Instrumental adjectives and pronouns

Reciprocal verbs (с + Instrumental)

Reflexive possessive pronouns (свой)

Reflexive pronouns (себя)

Specific indefinite pronouns (-то)

Non-specific indefinite pronouns (-нибудь)

Negative pronouns (никто / ничто)

Numbers 11 to 20

Tens to 100

Question	Answer
yesterday	вчера
to be	быть
Yesterday we were in the park.	Вчера мы были в парке.
Ivan was not in the office yesterday.	Иван вчера не был в офисе.
the day before yesterday	позавчера
warm	тёплый
The day before yesterday the weather was very warm.	Позавчера была очень тёплая погода.
holiday	праздник
The day before yesterday was a holiday.	Позавчера был праздник.
recently	недавно
Recently the sea was warm.	Недавно море было тёплое.
Recently they were at a celebration.	Недавно они были на празднике.
earlier	раньше
Earlier this was a small city.	Раньше это был маленький город.
Earlier this street was not very beautiful.	Раньше эта улица была не очень красивая.
a long time ago	давно
This was a very long time ago.	Это было очень давно.
We were there a long time ago.	Мы давно там были.