Pronunciation: [wɜːɹ ɐ kˈʌstəmə] (IPA) 
The spelling of "were a customer" can be explained through IPA phonetic transcription. "Were" is pronounced as /wɜr/, with the "w" sound and the "r" sound pronounced together. "A" is pronounced as /ə/, with a short "uh" sound. "Customer" is pronounced as /ˈkʌstəmər/, with the stress on the first syllable and a short "uh" sound in the second syllable. When pronounced together, it sounds like: /wɜr ə ˈkʌstəmər/.
"Were a customer" is a phrase that refers to the past tense of the verb "to be" (were) combined with the noun "customer".
The verb "to be" in its past tense form "were", serves as the past tense and the plural form of "to be". It implies a state of existence or identity from the past. It can be used to indicate when someone was a specific person or held a particular position or status in the past.
A customer is an individual or entity that purchases or acquires goods, products, or services from a business establishment. They engage in commercial transactions by buying products or services in exchange for money.
Therefore, "were a customer" can be defined as the state in which an individual or entity existed as a purchaser or consumer of goods or services in the past. This phrase suggests that the subject had a customer relationship with a specific business or establishment at a previous point in time.
For example, one could say, "Back when I were a customer of that bookstore, I used to buy all my favorite novels there." This sentence indicates that in the past, the speaker regularly purchased books from the mentioned bookstore. The phrase "were a customer" emphasizes the speaker's previous status as a buyer from that particular establishment.
