we'd vs were, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“we'd” is a contraction and “were” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#3,403
“we'd” frequency rank: #52
“were” frequency rank: 3455
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	we'd	were
Definition	Contraction of we + had.	second-person singular simple past indicative of be

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set we'd and were apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch

we'd

4 ch

were

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: we'd is /wiːd/ while were is /wə(ɹ)/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (contraction vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3455, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

we'd is recorded at frequency rank #3,403, classified as acontraction, pronounced /wiːd/. were is at rank #52, tagged as averb, pronounced /wə(ɹ)/.

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 3455, this pair ranks #522,055 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of we'd vs were

Shared letters: ew. Private to "we'd": d. Private to "were": r.

"we'd" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "were" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

were ← ewre · weer · werre · wree · wwere

Frequency comparison

we'd#3,403

were#52

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "we'd" and "were" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "we'd" is a contraction and "were" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "we'd" or "were"?

"were" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #52 in our English list, against #3,403 for "we'd". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering we'd vs were

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a contraction, it's “we'd”; for a verb, it's “were”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “we'd” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable