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

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

were we're

“We all went to practice every day. Even if you were sick, you were there. You didn’t have to practice, but you were there. You always supported each other.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 18, 2026

"We were below the level, it's really clear. It's hard to take, hard to digest," Le Bris told Sky Sports.

From BBC ● Oct. 18, 2026

Many were dressed in black and some were masked.

From Barron's ● Oct. 18, 2026

Russian users of VK complained of service disruption following the attack, while the social-media platform said its services were available as usual.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 18, 2026

“You were right, Rue—all three of them have Apple Watches,” I say.

From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold

She told The Sunday Show: "Fundamentally, we're trying to protect our people, and across the country just now we see a number of routes having been removed."

From BBC ● Oct. 18, 2026

"And yet we're not giving it the attention, we're not giving it the awe that it probably truly deserves," he added.

From Barron's ● Oct. 18, 2026

The thing is, by the time we’re assaulted by all that, we understand that Pamela has had it, too.

From Salon ● Oct. 18, 2026

"Now, in the Amazon, we're seeing the second domino in the cascade fall," Morton said, referring to the increasing number of fires in the Brazilian states of Pará and Amazonas.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 18, 2026

‘But we’re nearly out of your valley,’ said Renn.

From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver

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