NRTC English: Where to use ‘were’ and ‘was’

The English language can sometimes be tricky, especially when it comes to choosing the correct verb forms. Two such verb forms that often cause confusion are “were” and “was.” These past tense forms of the verb “to be” may seem similar, but they have distinct applications.

Were /wɜːʳ/ as a plural verb and second person singular of the past tense of verb be. 

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For example:

1. They/you were at the party last night yesternight.
2. You didn’t tell me you were coming to see me before.
3. They must have told you how they were given some party Jollof rice at the event.

We use ‘were’ after the verb ‘wish’. It doesn’t matter the number of the subject that precedes it [=she, the men]

1. I wish she were my wife.
2. She wishes the men were here.

If you’re discussing things that are unreal or conditional, then use were [=I were and he/she/it were] after subordinators like as though, as if, and if.

1. Mr Francis speaks as if he were a professor.
2. If I were rich, I’d [I would] indulge in the pleasures of life.
3. His father talked to him as though he were a child.

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As it were?

Seemingly, in a way, as in He was living in a dream world, as it were. A shortening of “as if it were so,” this idiom has been in use since Chaucer’s time (he had it in his Nun’s Priest’s Tale, c. 1386). Also see so to speak.

—www.dictionary.com

Was is a past tense indicative form of be, meaning “to exist or live,” and is used in the first person singular (I) and the third person singular (he/she/it).

1. I was at a supermarket yesterday to get some groceries.
2. She was happy with her test results.
3. We turned down the music because it was too loud.

A big rule of thumb:

Use were, not was, in unreal and conditional statements as you can see in the examples above.