Old English wæron (past plural indicative of wesan) and wære (second person singular past indicative); see was. The forms illustrate Verner's Law (named for Danish linguist Karl Verner, 1875), which predicts the "s" to "z" sound shift, and rhotacism, which changed "z" to "r." Wast (second person singular) was formed 1500s on analogy of be/beest, displacing were. An intermediate form, wert, was used in literature 17c.-18c., before were reclaimed the job.
双语例句
1. In " if I were you " the verb " were " is in the subjunctive.
在 “ IfIwereyou ” 中动词 “ were ” 是虚拟语气.
来自《简明英汉词典》
2. His hands were too weak to cock his revolver.
他的手没劲儿，扳不动左轮手枪的扳机。
来自柯林斯例句
3. Issues such as these were not really his concern.
他其实并不关心诸如此类的问题。
来自柯林斯例句
4. The rescuers were beaten back by strong winds and currents.
救援人员因风浪太大而被迫中断工作。
来自柯林斯例句
5. They were knocking around together for about a year.
