Showing results for "were"

• 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

In July, the company reported that its global comparable-store sales were up 7.9% for the fiscal third quarter, compared to last year, with North American store sales up 8.1%.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2026

Taylor Swift, Charli XCX and Lisa were among some of the celebrities to walk a blue version of the traditional red carpet, ahead of the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards in Los Angeles.

From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2026

But there were just 63 in the first half of this year -- down by over a third from the same period in 2025, said Seoul's Unification Ministry.

From Barron's ● Sep. 28, 2026

In previous instances where the 10-year yield breached 5%, returns over the following 12 months were strong, he has been telling clients.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026

Their headstones and tombs were trucked away for landfill.

From "Phineas Gage" by John Fleischman

“I think we’re seeing a bond market re-rating, if you will, of what the U.S. economy is capable of,” Desai says.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026

"If we continue like this, we're just going to be weak individual players waiting to be taken out. If we don't change something pretty fundamentally and pretty urgently, we're just going to be roadkill."

From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2026

"Every morning, together with the staff, we say a short prayer so that we’re given strength and can make it to the end of the job," Gutierrez told AFP.

From Barron's ● Sep. 26, 2026

“It’s trying to figure out how much we’re going to push him,” manager Dave Roberts said before the game.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 26, 2026

“If we’re stuck in here now, we might as well use the time.”

From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse