Old English w?ron (past plural indicative of wesan) and w?re (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.
雙語例句
1. In " if I were you " the verb " were " is in the subjunctive.
在 “ IfIwereyou ” 中動詞 “ were ” 是虛擬語氣.
來自《簡明英漢詞典》
2. His hands were too weak to cock his revolver.
他的手沒勁兒，扳不動左輪手槍的扳機。
來自柯林斯例句
3. Issues such as these were not really his concern.
他其實并不關心諸如此類的問題。
來自柯林斯例句
4. The rescuers were beaten back by strong winds and currents.
救援人員因風浪太大而被迫中斷工作。
來自柯林斯例句
5. They were knocking around together for about a year.