Sentence:  `` You 'd be the one to say '' , he observed , and she found herself liking his approval none too well , but she could not defend herself and say that her actions <WSD>were</WSD> `` different '' , since all actions had their own laws . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)