There was / There were (Past)

There was and there were are used to say that something existed or happened in the past. This is the past tense form of there is / there are.

The only decision you need to make is was or were:

The rule: Look at what comes after "there was/were" — if it's singular or uncountable, use was. If it's plural, use were.

Affirmative & Negative Sentences

Affirmative: There was / There were

Negative: There wasn't / There weren't

There are two ways to make negative sentences:

wasn't + any OR was + no — both work, but don't combine them:

• There wasn't any milk. ✅
• There was no milk. ✅
• There wasn't no milk. ❌ (double negative)

Common Uncountable Nouns (Use "was")

Some common uncountable nouns that always take was:

👉 Practice Affirmative & Negative →

Questions & Short Answers

Forming Questions

To make a question, swap there and was/were:

Formula: Was/Were + there + noun?

Short Answers

Match was/were in the question and answer:

• Was there…? → Yes, there was. / No, there wasn't.
• Were there…? → Yes, there were. / No, there weren't.

How many…?

To ask about quantity, use How many + plural noun + were there?:

• How many students were there in the class?
• How many people were there at the party?

Note: "How much" is used for uncountable nouns: How much snow was there last winter?

👉 Practice Questions & Short Answers →

Quantifiers, There was vs It was & Tense Contrast

Quantifiers with There was / There were

⚠️ "A lot of" — watch the noun! The verb matches the noun after "a lot of", not "a lot":

• There was a lot of snow. ✅ (snow = uncountable → was)
• There were a lot of people. ✅ (people = plural → were)

There was vs It was

There was says something existed. It was describes a condition or quality:

Quick test: Can you replace "there" with a real noun? (A storm was last night — awkward but possible → use "there was".) Is the sentence about weather, time, or a judgment? (Raining was all day — doesn't work → use "it was".)

Past vs Present: Tense Contrast

Look for time signals: yesterday, last week, in 2019, when I was young → past (was/were). Now, today, this year, at the moment → present (is/are).

👉 Practice Mixed: Quantifiers, There was vs It was & Tense Contrast →

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Quick Summary

Formation Table

There was vs It was

Practice Tips

1. Always look at the noun AFTER "there was/were." That noun — not "there" — determines whether you use "was" or "were". Singular or uncountable → was. Plural → were.
2. Learn the common uncountable nouns. Words like milk, water, money, information, traffic, homework, furniture are uncountable and always take "was" — even when there seems to be a lot of them.
3. Choose between "there" and "it" before choosing the tense. If you're saying something exists, use "there". If you're describing weather, time, or difficulty, use "it". This is a separate decision from was/were.
4. Look for time signals to choose past vs present. Words like yesterday, last week, when I was young signal past (was/were). Words like now, today, at the moment signal present (is/are).

Practice All Exercises

Ready to practise there was / there were online with answers? These grammar exercises cover affirmative and negative sentences, questions and short answers, subject-verb agreement with singular, plural, and uncountable nouns, quantifiers (some, any, many, much, a lot of), the difference between there was and it was, and past vs present tense contrast — at A1 and A2 level. Each question includes a detailed explanation. Printable PDF worksheets are also available:

Now try the exercises to practice what you've learned!