でした
Polite way to say “was”
You’ll be able to describe what something was in the past using polite speech.
昼ご飯はラーメンでした。
hirugohan wa raamen deshita.
What do you think this sentence means?
Lunch was ramen.
Talk politely about what something was
Use でした when a noun statement was true in the past. It is the polite past form of です.
昨日は休みでした。
kinou wa yasumi deshita.
Yesterday was a day off.
After a noun
Replace です with でした to move a noun sentence into the past.
父は先生でした。
chichi wa sensei deshita.
My father was a teacher.
昨日は雨でした。
kinou wa ame deshita.
It was rainy yesterday.
月曜日は休みでした。
getsuyoubi wa yasumi deshita.
Monday was a day off.
昨日は日曜日でした。
kinou wa nichiyoubi deshita.
Yesterday was Sunday.
晩ご飯はピザでした。
bangohan wa piza deshita.
Dinner was pizza.
テストは火曜日でした。
tesuto wa kayoubi deshita.
The test was on Tuesday.
9 more examples in the grammar path — free for a limited time.