The word(s) "were" appears 411 time(s) in 363 verse(s) in Quran in Muhammad Habib Shakir translation.

(161) And you might see the sun when it rose, decline from their cave towards the right hand, and when it set, leave them behind on the left while they were in a wide space thereof. This is of the signs of Allah; whomsoever Allah guides, he is the rightly guided one, and whomsoever He causes to err, you shall not find for him any friend to lead (him) aright.

(162) And you might think them awake while they were asleep and We turned them about to the right and to the left, while their dog (lay) outstretching its paws at the entrance; if you looked at them you would certainly turn back from them in flight, and you would certainly be filled with awe because of them.

(163) And your Lord is Forgiving, the Lord of Mercy; were He to punish them for what they earn, He would certainly have hastened the chastisement for them; but for them there is an appointed time from which they shall not find a refuge.

(164) And as for the boy, his parents were believers and we feared lest he should make disobedience and ingratitude to come upon them:

(165) So they were not able to scale it nor could they make a hole in it.

(166) They whose eyes were under a cover from My reminder and they could not even hear.

(167) Say: If the sea were ink for the words of my Lord, the sea would surely be consumed before the words of my Lord are exhausted, though We were to bring the like of that (sea) to add

(168) He said: So shall it be, your Lord says: It is easy to Me, and indeed I created you before, when you were nothing.

(169) These are they on whom Allah bestowed favors, from among the prophets of the seed of Adam, and of those whom We carried with Nuh, and of the seed of Ibrahim and Israel, and of those whom We guided and chose; when the communications of the Beneficent Allah were recited to them, they fell down making obeisance and weeping.

(170) And how many of the generations have We destroyed before them who were better in respect of goods and outward appearance!