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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:

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 went to New York and Cancun, we had a blast. We knew we had to get ready, we had to have that peace, because they were going to do this again.”

From Los Angeles Times • May 14, 2026

The black boxes were designed to track and regularly rate a user's driving habits, such as speed and braking, where repeated poor ratings could have seen drivers removed from the Motability scheme altogether.

From BBC • May 14, 2026

De Boucher said they were lobbying European governments to ban private jets.

From Barron's • May 14, 2026

Hernandez’s triple jump and long jump scores this weekend were the state’s best marks this season, but behind state records.

From Los Angeles Times • May 14, 2026

At the beginning of the summer, I was pretty sure we both were.

From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith