Lesson Sixteen, Part II
There was / There were
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The verb “be” is often used in the past tense with the word “there”
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Singular
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Plural
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There was…
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There were…
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To make the negative, add “not” to “was” or “were”
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Singular
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Plural
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There was not…
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There were not…
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There wasn’t…
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There weren’t…
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To make a question, put “was” or “were” before “there”
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Singular
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Plural
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Was there… ?
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Were there… ?
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examples
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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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A: Was there a lot of food at the party?
B: Yes, there was.
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A: Were there a lot of people at the meeting?
B: No, there weren’t.
A: How many people were there?
B: There were only four people.
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Take a quiz here
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