Word.ws English Dictionary

there were

/̩ðɛəˈwɜː/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

unstressed/ðɛəwə(ɹ)/

there were is the simple past plural of there be.

Meaning of there be

Verb

there be (highly irregular; see conjugation table)

  1. Of the specified thing: to exist, physically or abstractly.
    • Let there be light.
    Synonyms:
    there exist

Words that rhyme with there were

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about there were

What is there were the simple past plural of?
There were is the simple past plural of there be.
How do you pronounce there were?
There were is pronounced /̩ðɛəˈwɜː/.

Words near there were in the dictionary

  1. there oughta be a law
  2. there oughtta be a law
  3. there she blows
  4. there was
  5. there we go
  6. there were
  7. there ya go
  8. there you are
  9. there you go
  10. there you have it
  11. there'd

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: there were (page history and authors); there be (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: 3thereweresomesAmEng.wav.

Cite this entry: “there were.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/there_were. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.