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What is the difference between were and been?

were | been |

Been is a see also of were.


In context|obsolete|lang=en terms the difference between were and been

is that were is (obsolete) a fine for slaying a man; weregild while been is (obsolete) were.

As verbs the difference between were and been

is that were is second-person singular simple past tense indicative of be while been is .

As nouns the difference between were and been

is that were is (archaic) man (human male), as in while been is .

were

English

Etymology 1

(etyl) .

Verb

(head)
  • .
  • John, you were the only person to see him.
  • .
  • We were about to leave.
  • .
  • Mary and John, you were right.
  • .
  • They were a fine group.
    They were to be the best of friends from that day on.
  • .
  • 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,... )
  • * {{quote-news
  • , year=2011 , date=November 3 , author=David Ornstein , title=Macc Tel-Aviv 1 - 2 Stoke , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=Maccabi would have been out of contention were it not for Stoke's profligacy, but their fortune eventually ran out as the visitors opened the scoring.}}
  • (Northern England) 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

    Etymology 2

    (etyl) wer, from (etyl) .

    Noun

    (wikipedia were) (en noun)
  • (archaic) man (human male), as in .
  • (obsolete) A fine for slaying a man; weregild.
  • * Bosworth
  • Every man was valued at a certain sum, which was called his were .
  • (fandom) The collective name for any kind of person that changes into another form under certain conditions, including the werewolf.
  • Statistics

    *

    been

    English

    (wikipedia been)

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) .

    Alternative forms

    * (obsolete) ybe (see y-).

    Verb

    (head)
  • (obsolete) were
  • Assembled been a senate grave and stout. — Fairfax.

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) been, from (etyl) .

    Noun

    (head)
  • See also

    * for forms of be

    Statistics

    *

    Anagrams

    *

    References

    Vaux, Bert and Scott Golder. 2003. The Harvard Dialect Survey: been. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Linguistics Department. English auxiliary verb forms English irregular past participles English terms with homophones ----