It depends: I was = J'etais, He was = Il etait, She was = Elle etait
il etait une fois...
"once upon a time in the West"
As the past participle of 'drink', an example would be for 'he was drunk' - il etait ivre
How was your trip?
Once upon a time in the West (it's the name of a film)
When he was thirteen. Quand il etait treize.
"Be quiet! He's sick. Do you understand?" is a literal English equivalent of the French phrase Tais-toi! Il est malade. Tu comprends? The pronunciation will be "teh-twa ee-ley ma-lad tyoo ko-praw" in French.
In French, one would say "Il est" for "he is"
"il/elle était ..." translates as "he/she was ..." in French. Ex: Il était là depuis le matin - he was there since the morning. Elle était grande - she was tall.
"Pendant le jour il était ..." means "during the day he was ..." in French.
"Il est doux" = he is sweet