如果你要表达自己是什么时候出生的，应该怎么说呢？请看下面的例句：
● I was born in a small village in Shanxi Province.
我出生在山西省的一个小村庄。
● They were born in the same year.
他们是同一年出生的。
从以上的例子可以看出，要表达过去的事情，如自己的出生时间等，就要用到动词的过去式，be的过去式形式为was/were，请看下表：
原形 | am | is | are |
过去式 | was | was | were |
如果问某人是否在某年出生，是否在某地出生，可以说：
● Were you born in 1987?
你是1987年出生的吗？
其实不仅表示出生要用一般过去时，只要是表达过去的状态、过去的特征、过去的行为等，就需要过去时，例如：
● My primary school teacher was very strict.
我的小学老师很严格。
● John Adams was President of the US from 1797 to 1801.
约翰·亚当斯1797年至1801年任美国总统。
很多一般过去时的句子中包含了表示过去的时间状语，如上面出现的from 1797 to 1801。由谓语动词be构成的一般过去时的肯定、否定、疑问和回答句式如下表所示：
肯定 | 否定 | 一般疑问 | 回答 |
I was born in Beijing. | I was not (wan't) born in Beijing. | Was I born in Beijing? | Yes,I was. No,I wasn't. |
You were busy last week. | You were not (weren't) busy last week. | Were you busy last week? | Yes,you were. No,you weren't. |
He/ She was born in 1990. | He/ She was not (wasn't) born in 1990. | Was he/ she born in 1990? | Yes,he/ she was. No,he/ she wasn't. |
It was a small village then. | It was not (wan't) a small village then. | Was it a small village then? | Yes,it was. No,it wasn't. |
We were good friends in primary school. | We were not (weren't) good friends in primary school. | Were we good friends in primary school? | Yes,we were. No,we weren't. |
They were in the country in 1990. | They were not (weren't) in the country in 1990. | Were they in the country in 1990? | Yes,they were. No,they weren't. |
以上总结的是be动词的过去式，其他动词的过去式我们将在后面的模块中学到。