Many English learners stop when they see there was and there were. Both forms talk about something that existed or happened in the past, so the difference can feel very small.
The good news is that the rule is actually quite simple once you look at the noun that comes after the verb There Were or There Was.
For example, we say, “There was a problem” because a problem is singular. But we say, “There were several problems” because several problems is plural.There Were or There Was.
This small grammar choice matters in everyday English. You will hear and use these expressions when talking about people, objects, places, events, problems, experiences, and situations that existed in the past.There Were or There Was.
Consider this simple example: “There was a book on the table.” Now change a book to three books: “There were three books on the table.” The basic idea has not changed. Only the number of the noun has changed.There Were or There Was.
Khurram, imagine you are telling a friend about your classroom yesterday. You might say, “There was a new student in our class.” If several new students joined, you would say, “There were three new students in our class.”There Were or There Was.
By the end of this guide, you will know exactly when to use there was and when to use there were, how to use them in questions and negative sentences, and how to avoid the mistakes students commonly make.There Were or There Was.
What Does “There Was” Mean?
There was is the past form of there is. We use it when we say that one person, one thing, or one singular situation existed or was present in the past.
The important word is the noun that follows the expression.
If that noun is singular, use there was.
Basic structure
There was + singular noun
Examples:
- There was a car outside.There Were or There Was.
- There was a problem with my computer.
- There was a student in the room.There Were or There Was.
- There was an old tree near the house.
- There was a strange sound last night.
- There was a meeting at nine o’clock.
- There was one mistake in my answer.
- There was a long line at the store.
Khurram can remember this easily by thinking about one. If you could naturally put one before the noun, there was will often be the correct choice.There Were or There Was.
Notice the nouns: a car, a problem, a student, an old tree, a strange sound, a meeting, one mistake, a long line. All of them are singular.There Were or There Was.
For example:
There was a dog outside.There Were or There Was.
You could say:
There was one dog outside.
That tells you the noun is singular.
When should you use “there was”?
Use there was when talking about something that existed, appeared, happened, or was present in the past.There Were or There Was.
For example, if you are talking about yesterday’s weather:
There was a lot of rain yesterday.There Were or There Was.
If you are talking about a past event:
There was a concert in the park last Saturday.There Were or There Was.
If you are describing a place:
There was a small café near my old house.
If you are explaining a problem:
There was a problem with the internet.
Khurram, notice that the expression does not necessarily mean that something was physically visible. It can describe an event, condition, problem, situation, or amount, too.
“There was” with uncountable nouns
This is an important point for learners.
Uncountable nouns normally take a singular verb. Therefore, we use there was with them.There Were or There Was.
Examples:
- There was some water on the floor.
- There was a lot of noise outside.There Were or There Was.
- There was enough food for everyone.
- There was some information in the email.
- There was a little milk in the fridge.There Were or There Was.
- There was heavy traffic on the road.
Words such as water, information, traffic, noise, money, advice, furniture, and equipment can be uncountable depending on their use.
So we say:
There was some information in the report.
Not:
There were some information in the report.
Khurram, this is one of the places where students often make mistakes because some information may feel like several pieces of information. Grammatically, however, information is normally uncountable, so it takes was.
What Does “There Were” Mean?
There were is the past form we use when we talk about two or more people, things, or plural situations that existed or were present in the past.There Were or There Was.
The basic rule is:
There were + plural noun
Examples:
- There were two cars outside.There Were or There Was.
- There were many students in the classroom.
- There were several problems with the plan.
- There were three books on the desk.
- There were many people at the party.
- There were some beautiful flowers in the garden.
- There were five questions on the test.
- There were a few mistakes in my homework.
The nouns after there were are plural: cars, students, problems, books, people, flowers, questions, mistakes.
Khurram, think about the number. If you can naturally use two, three, many, several, a few, or some with the noun, you will often need there were.There Were or There Was.
For example:
There were three children in the park.
You cannot say:
There was three children in the park.
In standard English, the correct form is:
There were three children in the park.
“There were” with plural nouns
Use it whenever the noun is clearly plural.
For example:
There were many shops on that street.
Here, shops means more than one shop.
Another example:
There were two empty seats.There Were or There Was.
Because seats is plural, were is required.
Khurram, the same rule works with people:
There were several teachers at the meeting.
It also works with objects:
There were four bags near the door.
And it works with events:
There were several important meetings last week.
Why do learners confuse “there were” and “there was”?
The confusion often happens because there comes before the verb.
Students sometimes look at there and try to decide whether they need was or were. But there itself does not decide the verb.
Look at the noun that follows.There Were or There Was.
There was a student.
There were students.
The noun tells you which form to use.There Were or There Was.
Khurram, this is the key idea to keep in your mind: do not choose was or were because of “there.” Choose it according to the noun that follows.There Were or There Was.
Difference Between “There Were” and “There Was”
The main difference is singular versus plural.
| Expression | Used with | Example |
|---|---|---|
| There was | Singular noun | There was a problem. |
| There were | Plural noun | There were two problems. |
| There was | Uncountable noun | There was some water. |
| There were | Plural countable noun | There were several bottles. |
The rule is simple:
Singular = there was
Plural = there were
Khurram, compare these pairs carefully:
There was a book on the table.
There were three books on the table.There Were or There Was.
The first sentence talks about one book, so we use was. The second talks about three books, so we use were.There Were or There Was.
Here is another pair:
There was a student outside.
There were several students outside.
Again, the noun controls the verb.
Grammar logic
This structure is called an existential there construction. It is used to say that something exists, existed, appears, appeared, or is/was present.There Were or There Was.
The word there in these sentences is not simply telling us about a location.
Compare:
There was a man outside.
Here, there introduces the existence of a man.
But:
The man was there.
Here, there refers to a place.There Were or There Was.
This distinction is useful because learners sometimes assume that every use of there works in exactly the same way.
Khurram, focus on the noun after was/were. That simple habit will prevent many mistakes.
Sentence structure
For a positive sentence:
There was + singular noun + place/time
Example:
There was a cat in the garden.
For a plural sentence:
There were + plural noun + place/time
Example:
There were three cats in the garden.
The location can come later:
There was a problem at school.There Were or There Was.
There were many people at school.
The time can also be included:
There was a meeting yesterday.
There were two meetings yesterday.
Meaning comparison
Both forms tell us about something in the past.There Were or There Was.
The difference is the number or grammatical form of the noun.There Were or There Was.
There was a mistake.
= One mistake existed.
There were several mistakes.
= More than one mistake existed.
There was some milk in the fridge.
= An amount of milk existed.
There were three bottles of milk in the fridge.
= Three separate bottles existed.
Khurram, remember that changing the noun can change the verb even when the rest of the sentence stays almost exactly the same.
Grammar Rules You Must Remember
1. Use “there was” with a singular countable noun
A singular countable noun means one person or thing.
There was a child in the garden.
There was one chair in the room.
Do not use were simply because the sentence sounds long. Look at the noun.
2. Use “there were” with plural countable nouns
When you have two or more countable things, use were.
There were five children in the garden.
There were many chairs in the room.
Khurram, words such as two, three, many, several, a few, and numerous usually make the plural nature obvious.
3. Use “there was” with uncountable nouns
Uncountable nouns normally take a singular verb.
There was some water in the bottle.
There was a lot of traffic on the highway.
There was enough information to make a decision.
This rule is especially important for English learners.
4. Questions follow the same number rule
For a singular noun:
Was there a problem?
For a plural noun:
Were there any problems?
Khurram, notice that the word order changes in questions, but the number rule does not.
Singular:
Was there a student?
Plural:
Were there students?
Common Mistakes Students Make
Mistake 1: Saying “There was” with a plural noun
Incorrect:
There was many people at the station.
Correct:
There were many people at the station.
Why does the mistake happen? Students often hear there was used frequently and start using it as a fixed phrase.
But it is not fixed. The verb changes.
Khurram, check the noun people. It is plural, so use were.
Mistake 2: Saying “There were” with an uncountable noun
Incorrect:
There were a lot of traffic yesterday.
Correct:
There was a lot of traffic yesterday.
Traffic is uncountable in this meaning.
Another example:
Incorrect:
There were some information in the file.
Correct:
There was some information in the file.
Khurram, don’t count the pieces in your head. Look at the grammatical noun itself.
Mistake 3: Thinking “there” controls the verb
Some learners think that because there is singular as a word, they should always use was.
That is incorrect.
Compare:
There was a car.
There were two cars.
The word there stays the same. The verb changes because the noun changes.
Mistake 4: Using “there was” in every casual sentence
In informal speech, you may sometimes hear people say things such as:
There was lots of people there.
This can occur in casual speech, but for standard written English, especially in school, exams, professional writing, and grammar-focused content, use:
There were lots of people there.
Khurram, when you are learning grammar, it is better to learn the standard form first.
Easy Trick to Remember the Difference
Here is the easiest memory trick:
Was = one
Were = more than one
Think:
There was one.
There were two or more.
For example:
There was one apple.
There were five apples.
Now try another:
There was a student.
There were ten students.
Khurram, if you are unsure, mentally remove there for a moment and look at the noun.
Ask yourself:
“Am I talking about one thing or more than one?”
If the answer is one, choose was.
If the answer is more than one, choose were.
There is one extra point: if the noun is uncountable, normally use was.
So your quick formula is:
One = was
Many = were
Uncountable = was
This small trick works in a large number of everyday sentences.
Daily Life Examples
Real-life spoken English examples
These sentences show how native and fluent English speakers commonly use the two forms.
1. Talking about a house
“There was a beautiful garden behind the house.”
The noun garden is singular.
2. Talking about several objects
“There were three boxes near the door.”
The noun boxes is plural.
3. Talking about a problem
“There was a problem with my phone yesterday.”
Only one problem is mentioned.
4. Talking about many people
“There were lots of people at the wedding.”
People is plural.
5. Talking about food
“There was some rice left in the kitchen.”
Rice is normally uncountable, so was is correct.
6. Talking about school
“There were twenty students in the classroom.”
The noun students is plural.
7. Talking about an event
“There was a football match last night.”
The noun match is singular.
8. Talking about several events
“There were two football matches last night.”
Now matches is plural.
9. Talking about traffic
“There was heavy traffic this morning.”
Traffic is uncountable.
10. Talking about a past trip
“There were many beautiful places to visit.”
Places is plural.
Khurram, these examples show why the rule is useful outside grammar exercises. You can use it naturally when telling stories, describing yesterday, discussing school, talking about trips, or explaining what happened somewhere.
Practice Section
Choose the correct option
Try to answer each sentence before checking the answers.
1. ______ a strange noise outside last night.
a) There was
b) There were
2. ______ five students absent today.
a) There was
b) There were
3. ______ some water on the floor.
a) There was
b) There were
4. ______ several problems with the computer.
a) There was
b) There were
5. ______ a new restaurant near my office.
a) There was
b) There were
Answers
1. There was a strange noise outside last night.
Noise is singular here.
2. There were five students absent today.
Students is plural.
3. There was some water on the floor.
Water is uncountable.
4. There were several problems with the computer.
Problems is plural.
5. There was a new restaurant near my office.
Restaurant is singular.
Khurram, do not worry if you make mistakes while practicing. The goal is to train yourself to look at the noun before choosing the verb.
FAQs
What is the difference between “there was” and “there were”?
There was is normally used with a singular noun or an uncountable noun. There were is used with a plural noun.
For example, “There was a problem” is correct, while “There were three problems” is correct.
Can we use “there was” in questions?
Yes. Use was there with singular or uncountable nouns.
For example: “Was there a problem?” and “Was there any water?”
For plural nouns, use were there: “Were there any problems?”
Is “there was” formal or informal?
There was is standard English and can be used in both everyday speech and formal writing.
The same is true of there were. The important point is choosing the correct form according to the noun.
Should I say “there was many people” or “there were many people”?
In standard English, say “There were many people.”
The noun people is plural, so it needs were.
Khurram, this is a very common mistake, especially in fast speech, so it is worth practicing.
Is “there were a lot of water” correct?
No. The standard form is “There was a lot of water.”
Water is an uncountable noun, even when you are talking about a large amount.
If you are counting containers, you can say, “There were a lot of bottles of water.”
Is “there was” always singular?
Not exactly. There was is used with singular countable nouns and with many uncountable nouns.
For example, “There was a book” is singular, while “There was some information” uses an uncountable noun.
So the better rule is singular or uncountable = was.
Conclusion
The difference between there was and there were becomes much easier when you stop focusing on the word there and look at the noun that follows it.
Use there was with a singular noun:
There was a problem.
Use there were with a plural noun:
There were several problems.
Also remember that many uncountable nouns take was:
There was some water.
There was a lot of traffic.
The same rule works in questions. Say “Was there a problem?” for a singular noun and “Were there any problems?” for a plural noun.
Khurram, the best way to remember this is very simple: one = was, more than one = were, and uncountable nouns usually take was.
Do not try to memorize hundreds of sentences. Practice a few examples every day and pay attention to the noun. Once this habit becomes automatic, choosing between there was and there were will feel natural.
Hi, I’m Isabella Foster, an English language writer passionate about making grammar, vocabulary, and communication skills easy to understand. At EnglishVistor, I create clear, practical, and engaging learning resources to help learners improve their English with confidence.
