でした
Was / were
Used to express that a noun or adjective state existed in the past in a polite way.
N5
Meaning
Was / were
Used to express that a noun or adjective state existed in the past in a polite way.
Formation
Noun + でした
な-adjective + でした
い-adjective + かったです
Explanation
「でした」 is the past polite form of です.
Key nuance:
Refers to a state or condition in the past
Used with nouns and な-adjectives
Common in everyday polite conversation
For い-adjectives, you do not use 「でした」 directly.
The adjective itself changes to the past form.
Compare:
学生です。
I am a student.
学生でした。
I was a student.
The only difference is time:
です → present
でした → past