were

Pronunciation: [wә:]

Average Rank: 46

Source: ECDICT

be的过去式

v have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)
v be identical to; be someone or something
v occupy a certain position or area; be somewhere
v have an existence, be extant
v happen, occur, take place; this was during the visit to my parents' house"
v be identical or equivalent to
v form or compose
v work in a specific place, with a specific subject, or in a specific function
v represent, as of a character on stage
v spend or use time
v have life, be alive
v to remain unmolested, undisturbed, or uninterrupted -- used only in infinitive form
v be priced at

Difficulty: UNKNOWN

1: p

0: be

Word Frequency Rankings

#20

Formal, encyclopedic, and academic usage

Percentile: 99.8% (Top 99.8% most frequent)

99.8%

Out of 10,000 words in the Wikipedia corpus

#85

Conversational and colloquial usage

Percentile: 99.2% (Top 99.2% most frequent)

99.2%

Out of 10,000 words in the TV & Movie Scripts corpus

#34

Classical and literary usage

Percentile: 99.7% (Top 99.7% most frequent)

99.7%

Out of 10,000 words in the Project Gutenberg corpus

This word appears in 3 corpus/corpora, showing its usage across academic, conversational, and literary contexts.

Usage pattern: Most frequent in Wikipedia, making it particularly important for that context.