This is the 4154th most frequent Polish word.
byłam
"Byłam" means "I was" (used by a female speaker).
Here, 'byłam' denotes the past tense and reflects the speaker’s action of being in a particular place—specifically visiting the store for shopping.
Byłam w sklepie po zakupy.
I was at the store shopping.
In this sentence, 'byłam' is used to describe a past state of being busy during the specified time frame—yesterday.
Byłam zajęta cały wczorajszy dzień.
I was busy all of yesterday.
The word 'byłam' in this example is used to express the speaker's past feeling of certainty regarding a future event happening today.