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• were
  were

  verb

  a second person singular past indicative; first, second, and third person plural past indicative; and past subjunctive of be.
• we're
  we're

  contraction of we are:

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Were appears in the word werewolf. What was the original meaning of this instance of were?

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were

¹ American  

[wur, wer, wair] / wɜr, wər, wɛər /

verb

1. a second person singular past indicative; first, second, and third person plural past indicative; and past subjunctive of be.

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we're ² American  

[weer] / wɪər /

1. contraction of we are:

   We're happy to see you.

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were ¹ British  

/ wɜː, wə /

verb

1. the plural form of the past tense (indicative mood) of be and the singular form used with you. It is also used as a subjunctive, esp in conditional sentences

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we're ² British  

/ wɪə /

contraction

1. we are

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Grammar

See subjunctive.

Usage

See contraction.

Were, as a remnant of the past subjunctive in English, is used in formal contexts in clauses expressing hypotheses ( if he were to die, she would inherit everything ), suppositions contrary to fact ( if I were you, I would be careful ), and desire ( I wish he were there now ). In informal speech, however, was is often used instead

Etymology

Origin of were

First recorded before 1000; Middle English; Old English wǣre past subjunctive, wǣre 2nd-person singular past and wǣron 2nd-person plural past of wesan “to be”; cognate with Dutch, German waren, Danish var. See was

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

were we're

Dillehay held herself out as an example of a woman who failed; she said she had dated men who were “flippant,” which appears to be her code word for fun.

From Salon ● Sep. 28, 2026

"No," he told RTE Sport when asked is Uefa threatened additional sanctions if one or both of the matches were not fulfilled.

From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2026

There were a few casualties, like Silicon Valley Bank, but banks mostly absorbed the shock and realigned their businesses.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 28, 2026

In a tribute to the stadium’s soccer history, Loop ran to the corner of the field and performed Cristiano Ronaldo’s signature celebration before teammates hoisted him on their shoulders as if he were Pelé.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026

The lepers were fed through a small hole in the wall.

From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly

“There’s a lot of football left and it’s not like we’re not playing good ball.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2026

“It can’t just be like, ‘take it away and then we’re going to be a safer city,’ because we’ve never had a problem or a complaint or a misuse in our city.”

From Salon ● Sep. 28, 2026

As one remaining staffer is reported to have said, “Now we’re just rewriting press releases from the Administration.”

From Slate ● Sep. 28, 2026

"Our hope is that by turning surplus food into these free community meals we're doing more than just filling plates for an evening," Aoun said.

From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2026

Anna May poked her head back into the workroom and yelled, “Papa, we’re leaving!”

From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu