Verb

1. Second-person singular simple past tense indicative of be.

   John, you were the only person to see him.

2. First-person plural simple past tense indicative of be.

   We were about to leave.

3. Second-person plural simple past tense indicative of be.

   Mary and John, you were right.

4. Third-person plural simple past tense indicative of be.

   They were a fine group.

5. Simple imperfect subjunctive in all persons of be.

   I wish it were Sunday.

   I wish 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,...)

6. was.

Synonyms

• (second-person singular past indicative, archaic) wast (used with "thou")
• (second-person singular imperfect subjunctive, archaic) wert (used with "thou")

See also

• am
• are
• is
• art
• be
• being

• been
• beest
• was
• wast
• wert

Noun

1. man (human male) – see werewolf, weregild, world.