were

A1 Topic:Grammar & Function Words

Also spelled wur

US /wə(ɹ)/ See IPA manual

verb noun 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.

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

# were

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A1
**Part of speech:** verb, noun
**IPA (US):** wə(ɹ)
**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

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