We can use the words "was" and "were" to talk about a person or people in the past. The past means a time that happened before, like yesterday, last year, a month ago, or even two minutes ago!
Use "was" to tell about one person or thing in the past.
It was cold last night.
She was at the shoe store yesterday.
She was happy.
Use "were" to tell about more than one person or thing in the past.
The chairs were colourful.
