# were

> English word · Verb · IPA /wə(ɹ)/ · frequency rank #52

## Definitions
1. second-person singular simple past indicative of be
2. plural simple past indicative of be
3. simple subjunctive of be
4. first/third-person singular simple past indicative of be.

## 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 *wāʀīn, from Proto-Germanic *wēzun, *wēzīn, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wes-. More at was.

## Easily confused with
- **wet** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/were-vs-wet)
- **WWE** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/were-vs-wwe)
- **Wes** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/were-vs-wes)
- **woe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/were-vs-woe)
- **Wie** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/were-vs-wie)
- **wry** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/were-vs-wry)
- **wor** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/were-vs-wor)
- **wye** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/were-vs-wye)
- **work** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/were-vs-work)
- **west** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/were-vs-west)
- **word** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/were-vs-word)
- **wife** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/were-vs-wife)
- **wide** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/were-vs-wide)
- **wine** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/were-vs-wine)
- **wise** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/were-vs-wise)
- **wire** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/were-vs-wire)
- **wore** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/were-vs-wore)
- **worn** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/were-vs-worn)
- **woke** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/were-vs-woke)
- **wipe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/were-vs-wipe)

## Common misspellings (5)
`ewre`, `weer`, `werre`, `wree`, `wwere`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/were