it was eight O'clock when we came back home vs it were eight O'clock when we came back home

The correct phrase is "it was eight o'clock when we came back home." In English, the verb "to be" should be conjugated as "was" when referring to a singular subject like "it." Using "were" in this context is incorrect.

Last updated: March 23, 2024 • 645 views

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English.

"it was eight O'clock when we came back home"

This phrase is used to indicate the time when an event happened in the past. The verb "to be" is correctly conjugated as "was" for the singular subject "it."

Examples:

It was seven o'clock when the movie started.
It was midnight when the party ended.
It was three o'clock when she arrived.
It was six o'clock when the sun set.
It was nine o'clock when the train departed.

Show examples from the web [+]

- It was eight o'clock, not seven.
It wasn't night, it was eight o'clock in the morning...
It was eight years, Christian.
A hour ago it was eight executions in Ryvangen.
It was eight or nine months ago.
It was eight or nine months ago.
It's a different world than it was eight years ago, Saroya.
Thought it was eight year-olds who shoved flowers in a princess's face.
After that, it was eight, maybe nine guys until the door.
And it was eight degrees cooler than it is today.
It was eight years ago, and we were at rowan's pub, and our song started playing.
It was eight months later, on 26 October 2004, that the Council adopted the Regulation establishing a European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders.
A new Treaty is just as distant a prospect today as it was eight months ago.
It was eight years ago that the Swedish-Eritrean journalist, Dawit Isaak, was captured and imprisoned in Eritrea.
Thanks to on-going research, much more knowledge is available to us today than it was eight years ago.
I came to check the monitors, like I always do at eight o'clock.
She wasn't sure if it was eight or nine.
It was eight. Ace, tell him the line on the Bear game.
All in all, it was eight years.
Before that it was eight years studying, 12 years in that lab.

This phrase is incorrect in English. The verb "were" is not appropriate for the singular subject "it."

"it were eight O'clock when we came back home"

Show examples from the web [+]

I came to check the monitors, like I always do at eight o'clock.
Eight o'clock, Monday morning, the upstairs office.
What time? - Eight o'clock.
Eight o'clock he went to work.
The ice was almost gone when Maclean found him around eight o'clock.
Eight o'clock, of course, sir.
Eight o'clock, just as we discussed.
I got an appointment at eight o'clock at Perino's with Linda.
Saturday night, eight o'clock, dinner.
First lesson, front room, eight o'clock tonight.
Yes... eight o'clock sounds good.
Please, this place is a circus by eight o'clock.
But remember, it happens every night at eight o'clock.
I started work at eight o'clock this morning.
The arcade manager, Michael Nash, locked up just after eight o'clock.
- Meet me at my house at eight o'clock.
Eight o'clock on the third Saturday of the month.
Yep. Eight o'clock, just like you said.
Steve just confirmed his eight o'clock dinner reservation.
I will have finished the work by eight o'clock.

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it was eight O'clock when we came back home vs it were eight O'clock when we came back home