Quando si usano "there was" ou "there were" ?

There was (c'era) / there were (c'erano)

There was (c'era) / there were (c'erano) sono usati al passato e seguono le stesse regole di  there is e there are (presente).

Sono utilizzati principalmente per introdurre una descrizione al passato: There was (c'era) descrive un oggetto singolare al passato e There were (c'erano) descrive oggetti plurali al passato. Negli elenchi usiamo "There was" se la prima parola è singolare, "There were" se la prima parola dell'elenco è plurale.

There was a child at the bus stop.

There was a car near the station.

There were two children at the bus stop.

There were four cars near the station.

Usiamo “there were” con  people perchè “people” è collettivo plurale.

There were many people at the station.

Forma negativa

There wasn't / there weren't

There wasn't a child at the bus stop.

There wasn't a car near the station.

There weren't two children at the bus stop.

There weren't four cars near the station.

Forma interrogativa

Was there? Were there?

Was there a child at the bus stop?

Was there a car near the station?

Were there two children at the bus stop?

Were there four cars near the station?

Short answers

Yes, there was / were

No, there wasn't / weren't

Was there a child at the bus stop? Yes, there was. No, there wasn't

Was there a car near the station?Yes, there was.  No, there wasn't

Were there two children at the bus stop?Yes, there  were. No, there  weren't

Were there four cars near the station? Yes, there  were. No, there  weren't

Question tags

Le question  tags , brevi  domande  spesso aggiunte dopo  un'affermazione, la trasformano in una domanda. Se si tratta di un'affermazione positiva, viene aggiunta una question  tag  negativa,  se  un'affermazione è negativa, viene aggiunta una question  tag positiva.

There was a child at the bus stop,wasn’t there?

There was a car near the station,wasn’t there?

There were two children at the bus stop,weren’t there?

There were four cars near the station,weren’t there?

There wasn't a child at the bus stop,was there?

There wasn't a car near the station,was there?

There weren't two children at the bus stop, were there?

There weren't four cars near the station, were there?