du warst
In German, "you were" is translated as du warst.
The phrase is used to refer to a single person in the past.
Which one should you use?
While du warst refers to one person informally, ihr wart is used when addressing a group of people informally. For formal situations, whether addressing one person or many, use Sie waren.
How does it change in a sentence?
du warst is the simple past (Präteritum) form of the verb sein (to be) for the second-person singular.
Did you know?
- German has a unique social phenomenon called Duzen, which is the act of deciding to switch from the formal Sie to the informal du.
- The word du is a direct linguistic relative of the archaic English pronoun 'thou'. Both words share a common ancestor in the Proto-Germanic word *þū.
- The verb sein is one of the few in German where the simple past form warst is used frequently in spoken language, unlike most other verbs which avoid the Präteritum.
Examples in context
- Du warst im Koma.You were in a coma.This sentence shows how to use du warst to describe a medical state.Tatoeba #7481913 by Yorwba, translation #2647740 by CK
- Du warst zu jung.You were too young.This sentence demonstrates using du warst with an adjective to describe age.Tatoeba #10082050 by wolfgangth, translation #2548454 by CK
- Du warst auch da.You were there, too.This sentence shows du warst being used to confirm someone's presence at a location.Tatoeba #10083856 by wolfgangth, translation #3819166 by CK
- 189 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Two friends are talking about an old school memory.
- LauraDu warst früher sehr schüchtern, Julian.You were very shy in the past, Julian.
- JulianJa, das stimmt wohl.Yes, that's probably true.
- LauraAber jetzt bist du sehr selbstbewusst.But now you are very confident.
- JulianDanke, Laura.Thanks, Laura.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries du, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
