Dalam mempelajari bahasa Inggris, tentu kita akan mengenal kata "was". Apa fungsi dari kata was itu dan bagaimana contoh penggunaannya dalam kalimat bahasa Inggris?

Fungsi Kata was

Kata was bisa berfungsi sebagai kata kerja utama (main verbs), dapat juga berfungsi sebagai kata kerja bantu (auxiliary verbs)

Berfungsi sebagai kata kerja utama (main verbs) dalam kalimat simple past tense nominal.

Simple past tense nominal

Kalimat positif (S + was)

• I was Scare of you
• She was angry with me yesterday
• He was alone here waiting for you

Kalimat negatif (S + was + not)

• I was not Scare of you
• She was not angry with me yesterday
• He wasn’t alone here waiting for you

Kalimat tanya (was + S)

• Was I scare of you?
• Was they angry with me yesterday?
• Was he alone here waiting for you?

Dapat berfungsi sebagai kata kerja bantu (auxiliary verbs) dalam kalimat simple past tense pasif, kalimat past continuous tense aktif dan pasif. Mari dilihat contoh berikut ini:

Simple past tense pasif

Kalimat positif (S + was + participle (V3))

• I was born to make you happy
• He was needed yesterday
• Mia was joined in that party

Kalimat negatif (S + was + not + participle (V3))

• I was not born to make you happy
• He was not needed yesterday
• Mia was not joined in that party

Kalimat tanya (was + S + participle (V3))

• Was I born to make you happy?
• Was he needed yesterday?
• Was Mia joined in that party?

Past continuous tense aktif

Kalimat positif (S + was + Verb -ing)

• I was eating when you came last night
• He was going somewhere
• Mia was asking many questions

Kalimat negatif (S + was + not + Verb -ing)

• I was not eating when you came last night
• He was not going somewhere
• Mia was not asking many questions

Kalimat tanya (was + S + Verb -ing)

• Was I eating when you came last night?
• Was he going somewhere?
• Was Mia asking many questions?

Past continuous tense Pasif

Kalimat positif (S + was + being + participle)

• I was being eaten when you came last night
• He was being gone somewhere
• Mia was being asked many questions

Kalimat negatif (S + was + not + being + participle)

• I was not being eaten when you came last night
• He was not being gone somewhere
• Mia was not being asked many questions

Kalimat tanya (was + S + being + participle)

• Was I being eaten when you came last night?
• Was he being gone somewhere?
• Was Mia being asked many questions?

Jadi dapat disimpulkan jika was itu merupakan kata kerja, bisa sebagai kata kerja utama (main verbs) pada kalimat nominal, dan bisa sebagai kata kerja bantu (auxiliary verbs) pada kalimat pasif.