student asking question

What does "what was I" mean and when can I use "what was I"?

teacher

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

This is not an example of a commonly used expression, but rather, a personal speaking pattern demonstrated by Bill Gates. Bill Gates means to say "what age was I," but he has omitted the word "age" from the sentence. It is sometimes common to omit words when they have already been mentioned previously. Because this is an example of a quick monologue or talking to oneself, the word "age" has been dropped.

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