were

A1 Topic:Grammar & Function Words

Also spelled wur

US /wə(ɹ)/ UK /wɜː/ See IPA manual

Freq #83

Meanings

1

verb
Past tense of 'be' used with you, we, and they.

We were about to leave when the phone rang.
2

verb
Form of 'be' used to talk about imaginary or unreal situations.

I wish that it were Sunday.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

wast wert

Word family

Related forms am are art be been beest being is was wast wert

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂wes-der. Proto-Germanic *wēzīn Proto-West Germanic *wāʀīn Old English wǣre Middle English were English were Inherited from Middle English were, weren, from Old English wǣre, wǣron, wǣren, from Proto-West Germanic *wāʀun, *wāʀīn, from Proto-Germanic *wēzun, *wēzīn, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wes-. More at was.

were Middle English wǣre Old English *wāʀun Proto-West Germanic *wesaną Proto-Germanic *h₂wes- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Grammar & Function Words

External links

# were

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A1
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /wə(ɹ)/
**IPA (UK):** /wɜː/
**Frequency rank:** 83

## Meanings
1. Past tense of 'be' used with you, we, and they.
2. Form of 'be' used to talk about imaginary or unreal situations.

## Examples
- We were about to leave when the phone rang.
- I wish that it were Sunday.

## Synonyms
- wast
- wert

## Related Forms
- am
- are
- art
- be
- been
- beest
- being
- is
- was
- wast
- wert

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: were
- Root: wǣre
- Root: *wāʀun
- Root: *wesaną
- Root: *h₂wes-

## Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂wes-der. Proto-Germanic *wēzīn Proto-West Germanic *wāʀīn Old English wǣre Middle English were English were Inherited from Middle English were, weren, from Old English wǣre, wǣron, wǣren, from Proto-West Germanic *wāʀun, *wāʀīn, from Proto-Germanic *wēzun, *wēzīn, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wes-. More at was.

## AI Etymology
Were: The etymological chain runs Proto-Indo-European *h₂wes- -> Proto-Germanic *wēzīn -> Proto-West Germanic *wāʀīn -> Old English wǣre -> Middle English were -> English were. Inherited from Middle English were, weren, from Old English wǣre, wǣron, wǣren, from Proto-West Germanic *wāʀun, *wāʀīn, from Proto-Germanic *wēzun, *wēzīn, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wes-. More at was. Important historical forms include Middle English were, Old English wǣre, Proto-West Germanic *wāʀun, Proto-Germanic *wesaną, and Proto-Indo-European *h₂wes-. In present-day use, it can mean past tense of 'be' used with you, we, and they, or form of 'be' used to talk about imaginary or unreal situations.

## Topics
- Grammar & Function Words

markdown