'twas

1 9.9

An old-fashioned short form of 'it was' used in poems and old stories

auxiliary
/twɑz/

Archaic

: era

He recited, ''Twas the night before Christmas,' to the children by the fire.

Examples

'Twas a cold and silent night when the travelers arrived at the village.
In the old poem, 'twas clear that hope had faded from their hearts.
'Twas a cold winter night.
'Twas the night before Christmas.
'Twas a cold and silent night when the travelers arrived at the village.
In the old poem, 'twas clear that hope had faded from their hearts.
He recited, ''Twas the night before Christmas,' to the children by the fire.

Surface Forms

'twas past

twas past

'Twas past

Morphology

'twas = it + was (transparent) = it + was

A clear poetic contraction of the phrase 'it was' formed by omission of the initial vowel and marked by an apostrophe, so learners who know 'it' and 'was' can readily identify the meaning.

Etymology

'Twas comes from the words it and was, with the 'i' left out and the apostrophe showing the missing letter; like it's or don't, it means 'it was' and is used in old or poetic speech.