How to Remember the Differences. To determine the difference between "were" and "we're," try substituting "we are" for the word. If it works, you know you can use "we're." If it doesn't, you need "were." For example, take the sentence: "We're" going to the movies.

Were vs we're in a sentence?

“Were” is simply a plural past-tense form of the verb “are.” To talk about something happening now or in the future, use “we're”; but to talk about something in the past, use “were.” If you can't substitute “we are” for the word you've written, omit the apostrophe.

What is the difference between were and we re?

Meaning - Were is the past tense of the verb are. Look at this example of were used in a sentence. Since were means the same as the past tense of are in this sentence, it is the correct word to use. ... Meaning - We're is a contraction made from the two words we and are.

When to use is are and were?

Since 'are' is in the present tense, it must be used to denote an action that is being done in the present. Its counterpart, 'were', is used when the subject of the sentence is plural, and the action or condition that is expressed has already been completed or the event happened in the past.

Where vs were VS We're vs wear?

Just remember that "we're" is a contraction (the apostrophe is a giveaway), while "where" is a location, "were" is the past of "to be" (in some cases), and "wear" covers everything else (sometimes literally).

Were / We're / Where / Wear: What is the Difference? | Homophones ESL English Mini Lesson

37 related questions found

When can I use were?

Generally, “was is used for singular objects and “were” is used for plural objects. So, you will use “was” with I, he, she and it while you will use “were” with you, we and they. There is a tip you might want to consider. Even though you are singular, you must use “were”.

How do you use were and where correctly?

Were is the past tense of be when used as a verb. Where means in a specific place when used as an adverb or conjunction. A good way to remember the difference is that where has an "h" for "home", and home is a place. Out of the two words, "were" is the most common.

Was or were with there?

There was is used when you refer to one thing or person. There were is used when you refer to more than one thing or person.

Do you use was or were with everyone?

4 Answers. Everyone agrees that everyone is singular and therefore singular verb forms agree with everyone. Yep. After all, every ONE person in the world is part of the set of everyones.

Were vs we're for kids?

"Were" (rhymes with "fur") is a past form of the verb "to be." "We're" (rhymes with "fear") is a contraction of "we are." The adverb and conjunction "where" (rhymes with "hair") refers to a place.

Was or were with every?

"Everything" is singular, so you should use the singular form "was". I wish everything was as easy. Everything is treated as a singular noun. In fact, any noun phrase that contains every is singular.

Which is correct grammatically correct if I was or if I were?

Many people use if I was and if I were interchangeably to describe a hypothetical situation. The confusion occurs because when writing in the past tense, I was is correct while I were is incorrect. However, when writing about non-realistic or hypothetical situations, if I were is the only correct choice.

Do you use was or were with neither?

Neither his son nor his daughter were at the funeral. The writer queried the presence of a plural verb in this example, believing this to be incorrect because neither, being singular, should be followed by a singular verb. ... the verb which follows can be singular or plural.

Was or were with many?

In some British dialects, the simple past "was" or "were" was used— or may still be used— for all persons, singular and plural. "How many was on the rack?" is non-standard.

Were or was after a list?

It depends on whether you are referring to the gestalt or to the separate things. Was is fine. Grammatically, it means that all these activities are considered as a single (e.g., singular) "entity" (or as a single set); were works if you consider all the activities as being plural in nature.

Were a lot or was a lot?

I agree, it has to be "were" because "people" is plural. "A lot" can go either way, though; you can use "was" if the noun is collective, or otherwise singular. "There was a lot of emotion in his performance."

What do we express with was and were?

Generally, 'was' is used with singular pronouns (one subject), and 'were' is used with plural pronouns (more than one subject), but the pronoun 'you' is an exception! WAS is usually used with the pronouns 'I', 'she', 'he', and 'it'. WERE is usually used with pronouns 'you', 'we', and 'they'.

Is were a plural?

Singular and Plural

Singular: I was, he was, she was, it was – BUT you were. (Just to make things more fun!) Plural: It's always 'were', regardless of whether we're talking about “they,” “we” or “you.” So far, so easy!

Was either or were either?

It should be "either of [...] was," in the same way it is "they have a mortgage that will be repaid if either of them dies." The meaning of either is "one or the other of two people or things." It is then referring to a single person/thing, and the verb should be singular.

Is it each was or each were?

“Each was” is correct. “Each [eye] of her [two] eyes was focused ….” We use “each” in front of the singular form of a count noun to emphasize individuality.

Which is correct None was or none?

“Not one” is definitely singular. But Webster's also defines “none” as “no persons or things” and gives this example: “Many letters were received but none were answered.” Note the plural verb “were.” This tells us that both “none was” and “none were” can be correct.

Can we use were after I?

We use "was" with I, he, she, it when speaking of the past: it is the singular past form of the verb "to be". We use "were" with you and they and we: it is the plural past form. But sometimes we can use "were" with I (he, she, it): I wish I were a sailor.

Were or was past tense?

When to use were

Whereas was is the singular past tense of to be, were is used for both the third person plural past tense (they and we) and the second person past tense (you). In the past indicative, were acts similar to was. “They were at the store,” you could say, for example.

Is I wish I were there grammatically correct?

The subjunctive is used when referring to potential or hypothetical situations, like wishing for something that doesn't exist yet. “I wish I were” is grammatically correct because you're wishing for something that hasn't occurred yet. Once it becomes real, you can switch back to “was.”

Where and were used in a sentence?

When To Use Where or Were

Now that we see that where is an adverb or sometimes a subordinating conjunction, and were is always a verb, we should have no trouble sorting out when to use which word. We always use were when we need a verb or a helping verb: We were happy children. They were playing in the snow.