Minulý čas slovesa být

English "I was" is one word. Czech byl jsem is two, and to an English ear it can sound like "was am". It is not a repetition. Byl says "was" and whether you are a man or a woman; jsem says "I". Drop byl and Já jsem is the present tense. Drop jsem and you get Já byl, which you will hear in casual speech, but the standard form is Byl jsem.

The forms

As with every Czech past, the third person stands alone: Petr byl nemocný (Petr was ill), Jana byla v Brně. And the gender shows even in the plural, where English "we were" gives nothing away: a group of women says byly jsme, men or a mixed group byli jsme.

In real sentences

• Kde jsi byl včera večer? - Byli jsme na pivu U Fleků. "Where were you last night?" - "We went for a beer at U Fleků."
• Paní doktorko, byla jste někdy v Olomouci? - "Doctor, have you ever been to Olomouc?" (one person addressed as vy: plural jste, singular byla)
• Nebyl jsem doma. - I wasn't at home. The ne- goes on byl, never on jsem.

Questions need no "did" and no change of form: say the same words with a rising voice, or start with the verb. Byl jsi v Praze? - "Have you been to Prague?" / "Were you in Prague?"

"It was" and "there were": bylo

English needs a dummy subject - it was cold, there were a lot of people. Czech has none and uses the neuter bylo: Bylo hezky (It was nice out), Bylo mi špatně (I felt sick), Na Hradě bylo hodně turistů (There were a lot of tourists at the Castle). Do not go looking for a Czech "it" or "there": Bylo hezky is the whole sentence.

In casual speech jsi often shrinks to -s and attaches to the word in front: Byls tam?, Kdes byl? You will hear this constantly; in writing, use the full byl jsi.