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でした

was, were (polite)

Noun / な-adjective + でした

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でした is the past of です: 学生でした, "(I) was a student". Japanese marks the past at the end of the sentence, so it's でした whoever you're talking about.

The casual version is だった: 学生だった.

Like です, でした comes after nouns and な-adjectives. い-adjectives make their own past with かった, so it's 高かったです, never 高いでした. That's one of the most common beginner slips, and it's worth watching for.

Japanese doesn't need a time word to use the past, but it often has one: 昨日 (yesterday), 先週 (last week), 去年 (last year). They're handy clues that a sentence wants でした.

Register: Polite. The casual version is だった.

Examples

  • 昨日きのうは雨あめでした。

    It rained yesterday.

  • 去年きょねん、私わたしは大学生だいがくせいでした。

    Last year I was a university student.

  • テストは先週せんしゅうの金曜日きんようびでした。

    The test was last Friday.

  • 昨日きのうの夜よる、町まちはとても静しずかでした。

    The town was very quiet last night.

  • 先週せんしゅうは休やすみでした。

    I was off last week.

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