Weir and we’re are two commonly confused words that are pronounced in the same way but are spelled differently and have different meanings, which makes them homophones. We will examine the different meanings of the homophonic words weir and we’re, the word origins of the terms, and some examples of their English usage in sentences.
A weir is a low dam built in a river to control the flow of the water. A weir is also a type of net fence or fence made of sticks that is placed in a river to catch fish. The plural form is weirs. The word weir is derived from the Old English word wer, which means dam or fence.
We’re is the contraction formed from the words we are. A contraction is an abbreviated word formed by removing a letter or multiple letters from a longer word or phrase. The omitted letters are replaced by an apostrophe.
Examples
The Corps’ plan would replace the lock and dam with a rock weir fish passage that would allow the fish to access historic spawning grounds currently blocked by the structure. (The Augusta Chronicle)
The lower end of the Deshka River king salmon escapement range was achieved through Deshka River weir on Sunday, and I figured the Alaska Department of Fish and Game would have removed emergency regulations at that location and allowed sport anglers a chance to harvest a few king salmon at the end of the season. (The Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman)
“We’re going to need the 1 billion-plus people in India, we’re going to need the Australians – it’s going to take all of these democracies together.” (The Sydney Morning Herald)
At Wednesday’s hotly anticipated congressional hearing on Big Tech CEOs, much of what they said was predictable: We’re not that big; competition is fierce; consumers love us. (India Today)
Check out some of other idioms we covered: