Lesson Sixteen, Part II
There was / There were
The
verb "be" is often used in the past tense with the word "there" |
Singular |
Plural |
There was... |
There were... |
To make the negative, add "not" to "was" or "were"
Singular |
Plural |
There was not... |
There were not... |
There wasn't... |
There weren't... |
To make a question, put "was" or "were" before "there"
Singular |
Plural |
Was there... ? |
Were there... ? |
examples
There was a lightning storm last night.
(In this sentence, "there" is used with the singular count noun, "storm.") |
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There were many things to do and see at the amusement park.
(In this sentence, "there" is used with the plural count noun, "things.")
There was also a lot of food there.
(In this sentence, "there" is used with the noncount noun, "food.") |
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There were a lot of students on this website last night.
Were there a lot of students on this website last week?
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There wasn't any furniture in the apartment.
It was almost empty. |
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There weren't any people in the hotel room.
It was empty. |
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Was there a lot of food at the party?
Yes, there was. |
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Were there a lot of people at the meeting?
No, there weren't.
How many people were there?
There were only four people. |
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Take a quiz here
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