What's the meaning of "as there were" ?
Hi!
What's the meaning of "as there were" in this sentence ...
"Where's Papa going with that ax?" said Fern to her mother as they were setting the table for breakfast.

Thanks,

Question

What's the meaning of "as there were" ?
Hi!
What's the meaning of "as there were"  in this sentence ...
"Where's Papa going with that ax?" said Fern to her mother as they were setting the table for breakfast.

Thanks,

Answer

-"As" in this sentence means "while" or "at the same time as".
-"They" includes Fern and her mother.
-"Were" is the past tense of the verb "to be".

To make it easier to understand, you can paraphrase it as:

Fern said "where's Papa going with that ax?" while she and her mother were setting the table for breakfast.