different between were vs wern
were
English
Etymology 1
From Middle English were, weren, from Old English w?re, w?ron, w?ren, from Proto-Germanic *w?z-, from Proto-Indo-European *h?wes-. More at was.
Pronunciation
stressed
- (UK) enPR: wûr, IPA(key): /w??(?)/
- (UK, regional) enPR: wâr, IPA(key): /w??(?)/
- (US) enPR: wûr, IPA(key): /w?/
- Rhymes: -??(?)
- Homophone: whirr (in accents with the wine-whine merger)
unstressed
- (UK) enPR: w?r, IPA(key): /w?(?)/
- (US) enPR: w?r, IPA(key): /w?/
Verb
were
- second-person singular simple past indicative of be
- first/second/third-person plural simple past indicative of be
- first/second/third-person singular/plural simple present/past subjunctive 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,...)
- with “if” omitted, put first in an “if” clause:
- (Northern England) first/third-person singular simple past indicative of be.
Synonyms
- (second-person singular past indicative, archaic) wast (used with “thou”)
- (second-person singular imperfect subjunctive, archaic) wert (used with “thou”)
See also
Etymology 2
From Middle English were, wer, see wer.
Noun
were (plural weres)
- Alternative form of wer (“man; wergeld”)
- 1799-1805, Sharon Trurner, History of the Anglo-Saxons
- Every man was valued at a certain sum, which was called his were.
- 1867, John Lingard, T. Young, Introduction to English History [...] arranged [...] by T. Young, page 19:
- If by that he failed to pay or give security for the were, or fine, at which murder was legally rated; he might be put to death by the relatives of the murdered man.
- 1908, Frederic Jesup Stimson, The Law of the Federal and State Constitutions of the United States, page 13:
- Written statutes busied themselves only with the amount of the were, or fine, or (for the first century after the Conquest) with the method of procedure.
- 1799-1805, Sharon Trurner, History of the Anglo-Saxons
Etymology 3
Back-formation from werewolf and other terms in were-, from the same source as English wer, were (“man”) (above).
Noun
were (plural weres)
- (fandom slang) The collective name for any kind of person that changes into another form under certain conditions, including the werewolf.
Anagrams
- Ewer, ewer, ewre, rewe, weer
Dutch
Pronunciation
- Rhymes: -e?r?
Verb
were
- (archaic) singular present subjunctive of weren
Anagrams
- weer
Fijian
Noun
were
- garden
Verb
were (wereca)
- to garden, to weed (wereca specifically)
Irarutu
Etymology
From Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *wai?, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *wahi?.
Noun
were
- water (clear liquid H?O)
Further reading
- Cornelis L. Voorhoeve, Languages of Irian Jaya Checklist (1975, Canberra: Pacific Linguistics)
Maku'a
Noun
were
- water
References
- Aone van Engelenhoven, The position of Makuva among the Austronesian languages of Southwest Maluku and East Timor, in Austronesian historical linguistics and culture history: a festschrift, Pacific linguistics 601 (2009)
Middle English
Etymology 1
From Old English w?re (second-person singular indicative and subjunctive past of wesan).
Alternative forms
- weer, weere, wer, wære
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /?w??r(?)/, /?w?r(?)/
Verb
were
- inflection of been:
- second-person singular indicative past
- singular subjunctive past
Descendants
- English: were (dialectal war, ware)
- Scots: war, waar, ware, waur, wur, wir
Etymology 2
From a conflation of Old English w?ron and Old English w?ren.
Verb
were
- Alternative form of weren
Etymology 3
From Old English werre, wyrre.
Noun
were
- Alternative form of werre
Mwani
Noun
were 5 (plural mawere)
- breast
Northern Kurdish
Verb
were
- second-person singular imperative of hatin
Onin
Etymology
From Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *wai?, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *wahi?.
Noun
were
- water (clear liquid H?O)
Tocharian B
Noun
were ?
- smell, odor, scent, aroma
Toro
Noun
were
- day
References
- Roger Blench, The Toro language of Central Nigeria and its affinities (2012)
Uruangnirin
Etymology
From Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *wai?, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *wahi?.
Noun
were
- water (clear liquid H?O)
were From the web:
- what were the nuremberg trials
- what were the articles of confederation
- what were the fourteen points
- what were the pentagon papers
- what were the stimulus check amounts
- what were the causes of the great depression
- what were hoovervilles
- what were the freedom rides
wern
English
Etymology 1
See warn.
Verb
wern (third-person singular simple present werns, present participle werning, simple past and past participle werned)
- (obsolete, transitive) To refuse.
Etymology 2
From Middle English weren, equivalent to were +? -en.
Verb
wern
- (obsolete) plural simple past of be
- c. 1450, The Dicts and Sayings of the Philosophers
- And thanne he seide to other folkes that thei shulde seye somme goode thinges for to recomforte the lordes and the people, which werne in grete trouble as for the deth of the moste noble kinge that ever was.
- 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, Book IV, Canto II:
- Her name was Agape whose children werne
- All three as one, the first hight Priamond,
- The second Dyamond, the youngest Triamond.
- 1910, edited by Arthur Quiller-Couch, Glasgerion in The Oxford Book of English Verse
- Through the falseness of that lither lad
- These three lives wern all gone.
- c. 1450, The Dicts and Sayings of the Philosophers
Anagrams
- Wren, wren
Middle English
Verb
wern
- Alternative form of weren
wern From the web:
- what wernicke-korsakoff syndrome
- what were the nuremberg trials
- what were the articles of confederation
- what were the pentagon papers
- what were the stimulus check amounts
- what were the causes of the great depression
- what were hoovervilles
- what were the camp david accords