Sentence:  Since ordinary breakfast-table conversation was impossible , it was at least something that they <WSD>were</WSD> able to offer Eugene the sugar bowl with their sugar in it , and the plate of bread and butter , and that Eugene could return the pitcher of hot milk to them handle first . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)