были очень

were very

→ быть
phrase Rare #31,633
were very In possession constructions, были can mean “had,” as in “У меня были волосы” (“I had hair”).
RU: Мы были очень рады.
EN: We were very happy.

Мы с Томом были очень голодные.

Tom and I were very hungry.

Джек и Билл были очень хорошими друзьями.

Jack and Bill were very good friends.

Среди них были очень неплохие предложения.

There were some very good offers among them.

— Простые сложности Нико Фишера (2012)

Мы с Да-Я были очень довольны им.

Da-Ya and I were very pleased with it.

— Паразиты (2019)