Difference between Where vs Were vs Wear

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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