ENGLISH
REFERENCE

wasn't

v.
A1 Beginner was·nt Dialect Informal

v. the short way to write or say 'was not'. You use it to talk about something in the past that was not true or did not happen.

v. the contracted form of 'was not', consisting of the past tense of 'be' and the negative particle 'not'. Used with first-person and third-person singular subjects.


SIMPLE

He wasn't at home when I called him.

CONTEXTUAL

The weather wasn't as warm as we expected, so we decided to stay inside and watch a movie.

COMPLEX

Although the initial report suggested the project was on track, it soon became clear that the budget wasn't sufficient to cover the rising costs of raw materials.

Origin

Contraction of was + not. By surface analysis, was + -n't.

Usage

Used with the pronouns 'I', 'he', 'she', 'it' and singular nouns. In formal writing, the full form 'was not' is generally preferred.

Pitfall

They wasn't happy.They weren't happy.'Wasn't' is only for singular subjects; plural subjects and 'you' require 'weren't'.

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