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

We knew we were no longer up to traveling continuously.

From The Wall Street Journal

To help his 17-year-old daughter, he compiled a career guide analyzing what professional roles couldn’t be replicated by AI—doctors and diplomats were among the safe fields.

From The Wall Street Journal

Some of this growth is clearly a catch-up from the pandemic, when many healthcare jobs were initially lost.

From The Wall Street Journal

The can of Colonial Beef Dripping was taken on the 1953 journey by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay who were the first confirmed to reach the summit of the world's tallest mountain.

From BBC

The 30 crew members were rescued, leaving the LNG-laden carrier to drift between Malta and Libya for nearly three weeks.

From Barron's