I was a good person vs I were a good person

The correct phrase is 'I was a good person.' 'Was' is the correct past tense form of the verb 'to be' when used with the pronoun 'I.' 'I were a good person' is incorrect in standard English.

Last updated: April 13, 2024 • 107 views

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English.

"I was a good person"

This phrase is the correct way to express that in the past, the speaker was a good person.

Examples:

I was a good person before I made that mistake.
When I was younger, I was a good person.
She told me that I was a good person.
I was a good person until things changed.
I was a good person in my previous job.

Show examples from the web [+]

Apr 28, 2015 ... I was a good person. I volunteer. And this was my super, private secret that nobody knew about. It's not like I was talking with other hackers.
Nov 22, 2019 ... 'He wanted me to see that I was a good person': How a writer's friendship with Mr. Rogers inspired a movie. In 1998, Tom Junod sat down to ...
May 14, 2021 ... I knew I was a good person, but I didn't know how to change. Like thisUnlike LIKES23. (Photo above by Marco Giannavola).
And a simile is not a lie, unless it is a bad simile. 37. I do not tell lies. Mother used to say that this was because I was a good person. But it ...
I was a good person, and then a lot of things betrayed me. Yusei Shinzaki, a high school freshman, was a good guy. Yes, he was just a good person.
"I always thought I was a good person, a decent..." - Jim Jefferies quotes from BrainyQuote.com.
Mother used to say that this was because I was a good person. But it is not because I am a good person. It is because I can't tell lies. (37.1).
Jun 4, 2019 ... “I hope they thought I was a good person”: Prince George Cougars' Taylor Gauthier to NHL teams. Nationally-ranked goaltender hoping he left ...

This phrase is incorrect in standard English.

"I were a good person"

Show examples from the web [+]

I want to be a good person.” Over and over again, like a mantra: “I am not good enough; I wish I were a good person. I am so unworthy. I have done so many ...
I tell myself that, if I were a good person, I would take better care of people. Never. Seldom. Sometimes. Frequently.
Nov 24, 2014 ... If I were a good person, I wouldn't be doing the job I do. "I'd be helping! I'd be scrubbing up right now to tend to sick children in a ...
May 24, 2019 ... “If I were a good person I would do these things.” And if you don't do those things? That's where the self-blame and poor self-esteem can ...
Sep 18, 2021 ... I wish I were a good person, and not such a burden on my loved ones. I wish I could snap my fingers and be healthy and have a normal thought ...
... absurd, staring at the excess of hips that should, if I were a good person, be „slim“.” ― Marya Hornbacher, Wasted: A Memoir of Anorexia and Bulimia.
like when she told me that if I were a good person first, all else would fall into place. When Jo could no longer tell us the family stories, my mother or ...
Dec 22, 2016 ... "As a young lad growing up in the Anglican Church, I was told I had an immortal soul and that when I die, if I were a good person I would go ...
Jun 23, 2016 ... I thought God existed to make me happy and that if I were a good person I'd go to heaven. I decided to return to the Bible study the ...
If I were a good person. Neither of these sound formal to me. They sound very natural. If I was tired I went to sleep

Alternatives:

I was a good person
I used to be a good person
I have been a good person
I had been a good person
I would be a good person

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I was a good person vs I were a good person