Meaning - Were is the past tense of the verb are. Look at this example of were used in a sentence. Since were means the same as the past tense of are in this sentence, it is the correct word to use.

When to use was or were?

When to use were

Whereas was is the singular past tense of to be, were is used for both the third person plural past tense (they and we) and the second person past tense (you). In the past indicative, were acts similar to was. “They were at the store,” you could say, for example.

How do you know if its past or present?

The past is used to describe things that have already happened (e.g., earlier in the day, yesterday, last week, three years ago). The present tense is used to describe things that are happening right now, or things that are continuous.