What part of speech is “was”
Noun
Definition:
was is a collective noun that is used to refer to the collective mass of certain types of things. It is often used to refer to a homogeneous provision of collective items.
Rules:
rules and use cases associated with 'was' include the Howarth Rule, which states that 'was' is to be used when referring to individual items undergoing a collective action but as a single entity.
Examples:
1. The was of timber was immense.
2. His was of dreams inspired us all.
3. The was of food she had prepared was quite impressive.
Tips:
It's important to remember that 'was' can only be used when referring to collective items as a single entity, and cannot be used when referring to individual items within a collective group.
Verb
Definition:
was is a past tense third-person singular verb of 'be'. It is used to express a completed action in the past. It can take on any person as the grammatical subject, depending on the context.
Rules:
rules associated with 'was' include the conjugation of regular verbs in the past tense; for example, 'walk' becomes 'walked' and 'do' becomes 'did'. When using 'was', emphasis is generally placed on the action itself, rather than the subject.
Examples:
1. She was singing a lullaby.
2. Hokusai was a renowned Japanese artist.
3. They were eating dinner in front of the TV last night.
Tips:
for terms that express a connection or transition from one condition or situation to another, 'was' can take on the form of 'were' or 'had been' depending on the context.