Showing results for "were"

• an inflection of be.
• an inflection of be.
• an inflection of be.

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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

Dent said some of the celebrities arrived with very little cooking experience and were just there to have fun.

From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026

At the last FOMC, Hatzius estimates only four to five out of 12 members were in favor of a hike, and the tone of recent data is unlikely to increase that number.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 17, 2026

Trying to have separate point solutions for various parts of the shopping process meant that sometimes various teams were spending money and resources on duplicative things, according to Pavlovich.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026

Day parties like this are less common in New York City, but people were into it.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026

It’s unknown how many of these papers were printed during this time, but there are at least fifty documented publications.

From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly

“We’re very high on quality, and we’re high on authenticity. Music was always the main goal, and that’s why we chose Daptone; we’re on the same page about that, ‘cause music is a vibration.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026

Lucy said that it "is a bit of a work in progress" getting her used to living with their other pets, "but we're definitely getting there".

From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026

A better world is still possible, so long as we’re not too annoying about it.

From Slate ● Aug. 17, 2026

“The only silver lining is, thank God, we’re still canceling these books,” as one AI-phobic agent put it.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026

“In theory we should let this sit and cool off first, but I don’t think we’re wrong to taste test them now, don’t you agree?”

From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam