Nelle lezioni di inglese ci insegnano che se vogliamo esprimere qualcosa che è esistito nel passato utilizziamo l'espressione There was/ There were. Grammaticalmente There was è il passato di There is mentre There were di There are.
Ma che significato hanno? Utilizziamo There was per indicare C'era quindi con sostantivi al singolare mentre There were equivale a C'erano in riferimento a sostantivi plurali.
Facciamo qualche esempio:
There was a cat in the garden.
There were cats in the garden.
There was a bank near my house.
There was a dog in the park.
Possiamo inoltre descrivere qualcosa nel passato che non è esistito. Pertanto avremo la forma negativa che si compone di Was+not (Wasn't) o Were+not (Weren't). Di seguito alcuni esempi:
There was not/wasn't a cat in the garden.
There were not/there weren't cats in the garden.
There was not/wasn't a bank near my house.
There was not/wasn't a dog in the park.
Esiste una forma interrogativa di There was e There were? Certo! Vediamo subito un esempio:
Was there a cat in the garden?
Were there any cats in the garden?
Was there a bank near my house?
Was there a dog in the park?
Come risposte brevi abbiamo:
Yes, there was/were
No, there wasn't/there weren't