Where vs Were vs Wear
Where vs were vs wear all sound very similar when we speak. That’s why they can be confused with one another. However, they are completely different words used in very different cases.
Let’s start with where, because it’s the most complex one.
Where in a sentence
Where is wh-word used in English to form questions? It’s in the same class as who, what, why, when, and others. This is the most common use of where.
Where example:
- Where is she?
- Where are you going?
- Where is the remote?
We use where to ask for the location of something or someone, or the place where someone is going. Here we can see that where is most commonly at the beginning of the sentence. But it can also be somewhere in the middle if we use indirect speech.
Like this:
- I asked him where he was going, but he didn’t give me an answer.
- When I asked him where he left his wallet he had no clue.
This is only the case with indirect speech because we paraphrase the question.
Where Translation
Translation | Where Example | |
English | Where? | Where are you going? |
Spanish | ¿Dónde? | ¿A dónde vas? |
French | Où ? | Où allez-vous ? |
Italian | Dove? | Dove stai andando? |
German | Wo? | Wo gehst du hin? |
Portuguese | Onde? | Para onde vai? |
Russian | Где? | Куда ты идешь? |
Chinese | 哪儿? | 你要去哪里? |
Japanese | どこで? | どこに行くの? |
Polish | Gdzie? | Gdzie się wybierasz? |
Where as conjunction
Where can also be used as a conjunction or a relative pronoun. These are not as common as forming questions, but it’s good to know because they can appear in some more complex writing.
If where is used as a conjunction it’s also at the beginning of a sentence, or in between two of them. Just like any other conjunction. However, since it’s not a question there is no question mark at the end.
Where example:
- It’s a very expensive store, where you also have to pay a deposit before you buy something.
- Where you find a lot of ants, you will also find a lot of breadcrumbs.
Where as relative pronoun
If we use a where as a relative pronoun it becomes a part of the noun phrase we form around the word. Where comes after the main noun, and everything after where describes the main noun. We use this construction to describe a place in greater detail.
Like this:
- This is the place where he proposed to me.
- Do you remember that restaurant where we had that great Peking duck?
- School isn’t just a place where you learn, it’s also a place where you grow.
Wear in a sentence
Now let’s move on to wear. It’s a verb that we use when describing which clothes we have on. It’s the only way to use wear.
Wear example:
- He always wears the same shirt. I don’t know if he has any others.
- It’s cold outside so please wear a jacket.
Wear Translation
Translation | Wear Example | |
English | Wear | He wears the same shirt. |
Spanish | Ponte | Lleva la misma camisa. |
French | Porter | Il porte la même chemise. |
Italian | Indossare | Indossa la stessa camicia. |
German | Tragen | Er trägt das gleiche Hemd. |
Portuguese | Desgaste | Ele veste a mesma camisa. |
Russian | Носить | Он носит ту же рубашку. |
Chinese | 穿着 | 他穿着同样的衬衫。 |
Japanese | ウェア | 同じシャツを着ている。 |
Polish | Nosić | Nosi tę samą koszulę. |
Were in a sentence
Finally, were is the past tense of the verb to be in the plural form. It goes with the pronouns we and they. It’s very simple to use and very common.
Were examples:
- Mark said we were going to play video games all day.
- It was snowing yesterday so they were stuck in traffic.
Were Translation
Translation | Were Example | |
English | Were | Mark said we were going to play video games |
Spanish | Fueron | Mark dijo que íbamos a jugar a los videojuegos |
French | Étaient | Mark a dit que nous allions jouer aux jeux vidéo |
Italian | Erano | Mark ha detto che avremmo giocato ai videogiochi |
German | Wurden | Mark sagte, wir würden Videospiele spielen. |
Portuguese | Eram | Mark disse que íamos jogar jogos de vídeo |
Russian | Были | Марк сказал, что мы собираемся играть в видеоигры. |
Chinese | 是 | 马克说我们要去玩电子游戏 |
Japanese | でしたか? | マークは私たちがビデオゲームをすると言った |
Polish | Czy | Mark powiedział, że będziemy grać w gry wideo |
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