"was" meaning in English

See was in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Verb

IPA: /wɒz/ [stressed, UK], /wʌz/ [US, stressed], /wəz/ [unstressed] Audio: en-us-was.ogg [US, stressed], en-us-was-unstressed.ogg [unstressed, US] Forms: be [canonical], am, is, are [present], was, were [past], been [past, participle], being [present, participle]
enPR: wŏz [stressed, UK], wŭz [US, stressed], wəz [unstressed] Head templates: {{verb3|be|am|is|are|was|were|been|being}} [POS TABLE]
  1. A form of the verb be used to talk about yourself, or another person in the past.
    Sense id: simple-was-en-verb-K4Jk8uDe
{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "be",
      "tags": [
        "canonical"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "am, is, are",
      "tags": [
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "was, were",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "been",
      "tags": [
        "past",
        "participle"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "being",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "participle"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "be",
        "2": "am",
        "3": "is",
        "4": "are",
        "5": "was",
        "6": "were",
        "7": "been",
        "8": "being"
      },
      "expansion": "[POS TABLE]",
      "name": "verb3"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "I was singing in the shower."
        },
        {
          "text": "Who was that girl you were talking to?"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A form of the verb be used to talk about yourself, or another person in the past."
      ],
      "id": "simple-was-en-verb-K4Jk8uDe",
      "raw_tags": [
        "auxiliary",
        "linking"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "enpr": "wŏz",
      "tags": [
        "stressed",
        "UK"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/wɒz/",
      "tags": [
        "stressed",
        "UK"
      ]
    },
    {
      "sampa": "/wQz/",
      "tags": [
        "stressed",
        "UK"
      ]
    },
    {
      "enpr": "wŭz",
      "tags": [
        "US",
        "stressed"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/wʌz/",
      "tags": [
        "US",
        "stressed"
      ]
    },
    {
      "sampa": "/wVz/",
      "tags": [
        "US",
        "stressed"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-was.ogg",
      "raw_tags": [
        "Audio"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US",
        "stressed"
      ]
    },
    {
      "enpr": "wəz",
      "tags": [
        "unstressed"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/wəz/",
      "tags": [
        "unstressed"
      ]
    },
    {
      "sampa": "/w@z/",
      "tags": [
        "unstressed"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-was-unstressed.ogg",
      "raw_tags": [
        "Audio"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "unstressed",
        "US"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "was"
}
{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "be",
      "tags": [
        "canonical"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "am, is, are",
      "tags": [
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "was, were",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "been",
      "tags": [
        "past",
        "participle"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "being",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "participle"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "be",
        "2": "am",
        "3": "is",
        "4": "are",
        "5": "was",
        "6": "were",
        "7": "been",
        "8": "being"
      },
      "expansion": "[POS TABLE]",
      "name": "verb3"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "Auxiliary verbs",
        "Linking verbs"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "I was singing in the shower."
        },
        {
          "text": "Who was that girl you were talking to?"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A form of the verb be used to talk about yourself, or another person in the past."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "auxiliary",
        "linking"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "enpr": "wŏz",
      "tags": [
        "stressed",
        "UK"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/wɒz/",
      "tags": [
        "stressed",
        "UK"
      ]
    },
    {
      "sampa": "/wQz/",
      "tags": [
        "stressed",
        "UK"
      ]
    },
    {
      "enpr": "wŭz",
      "tags": [
        "US",
        "stressed"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/wʌz/",
      "tags": [
        "US",
        "stressed"
      ]
    },
    {
      "sampa": "/wVz/",
      "tags": [
        "US",
        "stressed"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-was.ogg",
      "raw_tags": [
        "Audio"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US",
        "stressed"
      ]
    },
    {
      "enpr": "wəz",
      "tags": [
        "unstressed"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/wəz/",
      "tags": [
        "unstressed"
      ]
    },
    {
      "sampa": "/w@z/",
      "tags": [
        "unstressed"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-was-unstressed.ogg",
      "raw_tags": [
        "Audio"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "unstressed",
        "US"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "was"
}

Download raw JSONL data for was meaning in English (1.4kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-02-15 from the simplewiktionary dump dated 2025-02-02 using wiktextract (ca09fec and c40eb85). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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