Decoded Slug: ~이었다 [ieotda] (Was, were)
Korean Grammar Point
~이었다 [ieotda] (Was, were)
~이었다 [ieotda] (Was, were)
Short explanation:
Used to describe a state or condition in the past; 'was', 'were'.
Formation:
Noun + 이었다
Examples:
그는 어릴 때 정말 착하고 예의 바른 아이였다.
Geuneun eoril ttae jeongmal chakhago yeui bareun aieotda.
When he was young, he was a very kind and polite child.
진안에서 보았던 그 늙은 나무가 정원의 가장 아름다운 풍경이었다.
Jinaneso boassdeon geu neulgeun namuga jeong-wonui gajang areumdaun pung-gyeongieotda.
That old tree that I saw in Jinan was the most beautiful scenery in the garden.
그녀는 저희 학교에서 영어 선생님이었다.
Geunyeo-neun jeohui hakgyo-eseo yeong-eo seonsaengnimieotda.
She was an English teacher at our school.
그렇게 해서 그 해의 여름은 잊지 못할 최고의 시간이었다.
Geureohge haeseo geu haeui yeoreumeun itji mothall choegoui siganieotda.
So, that summer of the year was an unforgettable best time.
Long explanation:
The '~이었다 [ieotda]' form is used in Korean to describe a past state or condition. It can be viewed as the past tense of '이다 (it is)'. It is used when communicating about a subject or object's previous condition, quality, role, identity or profession and can be translated as 'was' or 'were' in English. Note, however, that it cannot be used to describe past actions or events. For these, the normal past tense verb form should be used.
