Guide # 4.11 Practice There was-were.
Please, answer these questions in long answer not in short. They must be complete.
Hello, What´s Your name?_____________________________
How are you today?
_____________________________
What is your cicle?
_____________________________
Are you working or studying?
_____________________________
Where are you from?
_____________________________
Where do you live?
_____________________________
In this guide we are going to practice there was and there were in affirmative and negative way.
Learning how to use there was and there were isn’t that difficult if you already know how to use there is and there are.
We use there is for a singular object in the present tense and there are for plural objects in the present.
We use there is and there are when we first refer to the existence or presence of someone or something.
For example:
- There are 3 people waiting in the living room
- There is a beautiful dog in the yard
- There are three cats on the roof
- There is a police officer outside the house
In the past tense we use there was for a singular object and there were for plural objects
There was is used when you refer to one thing or person.
For example: There was a party last night
There were is used when you refer to more than one thing or person.
| There | + | Verb to be | Complement |
| There | + | wasn’t | a book. |
| There | + | weren’t | two people |
Check these examples of negative sentences using there was and there were.
- There wasn’t any money in the bank.
- There wasn’t any information in the file.
- There wasn’t a christmas tree in the living room
- There wasn’t a black chair in the store.
- There weren’t many options available to us.
- There weren’t many movies to watch online.
- There weren’t any fans in the store.
- There weren’t any white chairs in the restaurant.
- There weren’t any improvements in 2019.
- There weren’t any attempts to fix the problem.
Questions with There Was and There Were.
This is the way to make questions with there was and there were
| Verb to be | + | There | Complement ? |
| Was | + | there | a book.? |
| Were | + | there | two people? |
Check these examples of questions using was there and were there (?) .
- Was there a man standing here? Yes, there was a man standing here.
- Was there a soccer player in the hotel? Yes, there was a soccer player in the hotel.
- Was there a museum in that old town? yes, there was a museum in that old town.
- Was there a lot of food at the party?_______________________________________________
- Were there many police officers around here? No, there weren´t any police officers around here.
- Were there many people working in the bank? _________________Yes, there were .
- Were there two police officers at the station? _______________________________________
- Were there other factory workers in the construction site?_______________________________________
- Were there many things to do?________________________________________
- Was there a great depressions 100 years ago ?________________________________________
Questions and Answers
These are some questions and answers with there was and there were
- Were there a lot of people at the party ?
- No, there weren’t.
- Was there a lot of food at the party?
- Yes, there was.
- Was there any water left?
- No, There wasn’t
- Were there many officers available?
- There were only three of them
Questions with How Many? Answer in long way- complete.
These are some example of questions using there was and there were
- How many little dogs were there in the park? There were many little dogs in the park.
- How many students were there in your class? There were six students in my class.
- How many drinks were there in the restaurant?_________________________
- How many people were there in the concert?_____________________________
- How many films were there?___________________________________________
- How many soldiers were there in the field?________________________
- How many patients were there in the Emergency room?_______________
Questions with How Much ?
These are some example of questions using there was and there were
- How much money was there in your bank account?__________________________
- How much crime was there in New York city?_________________________________________
- How much pollution was there in China?_________________________________________
- How much sugar was there in the refrigerator?_________________________________________
- How much traffic was there on the way to work?_________________________________________