were

See also were-, and we're

English

Wikipedia

Etymology 1

Old English wǣre.

Pronunciation

• (stressed)
  • (UK) IPA: /wɜː(ɹ)/, X-SAMPA: /w3:(r\)/
  • (US) enPR: wûr, IPA: /wɝ/, X-SAMPA: /w3`/
• (unstressed)
  • (UK) IPA: /wə(ɹ)/, X-SAMPA: /w@(r\)/
  • (US) enPR: wər, IPA: /wɚ/, X-SAMPA: /w@`/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Rhymes: -ɜː(r)

• Homophone: whirr (in accents with the wine-whine merger)

Verb

were

1. Second-person singular simple past tense indicative of be.

   John, you were the only person to see him.

2. First-person plural simple past tense indicative of be.

   We were about to leave.

3. Second-person plural simple past tense indicative of be.

   Mary and John, you were right.

4. Third-person plural simple past tense indicative of be.

   They were a fine group.

   They were to be the best of friends from that day on.

5. Simple imperfect subjunctive in all persons of be.

   I wish that it were Sunday.

   I wish that I were with you.

   • with "if" omitted, put first in an "if" clause:

     Were it simply that she wore a hat, I would not be upset at all. (= If it were simply...)

     Were father a king, we would have war. (= If father were a king,...)

   • 2011 November 3, David Ornstein, “Macc Tel-Aviv 1 - 2 Stoke”, BBC Sport:

     Maccabi would have been out of contention were it not for Stoke's profligacy, but their fortune eventually ran out as the visitors opened the scoring.

6. (Northern England) was.

Synonyms

• (second-person singular past indicative, archaic) wast (used with "thou")
• (second-person singular imperfect subjunctive, archaic) wert (used with "thou")

See also

am are is art be being

been beest was wast wert

Etymology 2

Old English wer, from Proto-Germanic *weraz, from Proto-Indo-European *wiHrós (“man”).

Noun

Wikipedia were (plural weres)

1. (archaic) man (human male), as in werewolf (“man-wolf”).
2. (obsolete) A fine for slaying a man; weregild.
   • Bosworth

     Every man was valued at a certain sum, which was called his were.

3. (fandom slang) The collective name for any kind of person that changes into another form under certain conditions, including the werewolf.

Related terms

• were-
• weregild
• werewolf
• world

Statistics

• Most common English words before 1923: she · they · my · #35: were · are · their · one

Anagrams

• ewer, rewe, weer

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Dutch

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -eːrə

Verb

were

1. singular present subjunctive of weren

Anagrams

• weer

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Irarutu

were

Etymology

From Proto-Central Malayo-Polynesian *waiʀ, from Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *waiʀ, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *wahiʀ.

Noun

were

1. water (clear liquid H₂O)

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Kurdish

Verb

were

1. Second-person singular imperative of hatin.

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Onin

Etymology

From Proto-Central Malayo-Polynesian *waiʀ, from Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *waiʀ, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *wahiʀ.

Noun

were

1. water (clear liquid H₂O)

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Uruangnirin

Etymology

From Proto-Central Malayo-Polynesian *waiʀ, from Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *waiʀ, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *wahiʀ.

Noun

were

1. water (clear liquid H₂O)