在教堂和教区的房子附近，有一片残旧的废墟，它曾经是一座宽大的建筑。

Near the church and the parish house, lay an old ruin that once had been a spacious building.

youdao

那么，它曾经是，但不再是。

Well, it used to be, but it no longer is.

youdao

它曾经是，这是合法的吗？

It used to be. It is legal?

youdao

Comes to mind, what happened, even foot-binding, that was something very common practice, basically erased within a generation.

突然想到了缠足这件事，这曾经是很常见的事情，而随着时代的变迁，它也已经淡出历史了。

普林斯顿公开课 - 人性课程节选

It used to be a market.

它曾经是一个集市。

有各种不同的魅力 - SpeakingMax英语口语达人

You can therefore assume it was divinely sanctioned.

因此你会认为它曾经是得到神明允许的

耶鲁公开课 - 美国内战与重建课程节选