Where | We're | Were
This group of homonyms causes some people problems.
- Where is an adverb used to describe location of a place
- We're is a contraction of 'we' and are'
- Were is the past plural of the verb 'to be'
This may look a bit tricky, three words that sound the same and have only an apostrophe or a letter's difference between them. It is simple when you know how. A simple rule of thumb is to remember that 'where' refers to location; you can remember this by visualising the here hidden in where. This leaves us with only 'we're' and 'were' to differentiate.
The helpful contraction apostrophe is now your friend, indicating that there is a letter missing - 'we're' now transforms into 'we are'. All that is left to do is review the sentence. Take a look at our example below.
- Neil explained that he was late to the meeting because his children were sick
- Neil explained that he was late to the metting because his children we're sick
As you have probably noted, the latter sentence is incorrect, since it actually reads 'Neil explained that he was late to the meeting because his children we are sick'. That certainly doesn't make sense.
If you should ever find youself puzzled whether you should use 'where', 'we're' or 'were', simply apply the above rules and you should have a clear winner.