1. Why we use there were
There were is a useful way to report that something was present in the past. There does not identify a place here; it fills the subject position in this construction.
What the sentence actually introduces comes after the verb. First we name what was present, then add the place or time. For several things or people in the past, the verb form is were.
There + were + plural noun phrase + (place / time).
- NP / noun phrase —
- A noun phrase: a noun with its dependent words, such as the new student; the pattern treats it as one group of words.
- noun —
- A word naming a person, thing or idea: student, book, happiness.
There were four umbrellas by the door.
There were four umbrellas by the door.
The sentence reports their presence, not an action: it does not tell us who put them there.
There were two nurses at the reception desk that evening.
There were two nurses at the reception desk that evening.
What was present comes first (two nurses), followed by the place and time.
2. Why were rather than was?
In standard written there were constructions, be agrees with the noun phrase that follows it: several things or people require were. There itself does not indicate singular or plural.
Were is the past form of are. The pair are → were therefore works like is → was: the tense changes while plural agreement remains.
There were six eggs in the fridge.
There were six eggs in the fridge.
Six eggs is plural, so use were; choose the form according to the English noun phrase.
There were several messages on my phone.
There were several messages on my phone.
Several already means more than one, so both noun and verb are plural.
3. The noun must be plural too
In this construction, were goes with a plural noun. Most nouns add -s: shop → shops, tree → trees. After s, x, sh, ch, and certain other endings, add -es: bus → buses, box → boxes.
Common irregular plurals include child → children, man → men, woman → women, and person → people. People meaning multiple persons takes were; it can be a singular countable noun meaning a nation or ethnic group, but that is a different use.
There were three buses at the stop.
There were three buses at the stop.
Bus ends in -s, so its plural adds -es: buses.
There were five men in the queue.
There were five men in the queue.
The plural of man for several men is men, not mans.
4. Quantity expressions before the noun
A number or quantity expression often comes before the noun: two, ten, a lot of, lots of, many, several, a few, some. These do not change the agreement rule; the noun's form matters.
That is why phrases such as a lot of people and lots of cars take were: people and cars are plural. The singular appearance of lot can make this easy to get wrong.
There were a lot of bicycles outside the school.
There were a lot of bicycles outside the school.
Bicycles determines the agreement, not lot.
There were only a few passengers in the carriage.
There were only a few passengers in the carriage.
A few indicates a small quantity, but it is still plural.
5. Two ways to say something was absent
The first pattern combines a negative verb with any: there weren't any + plural noun. Weren't is the contraction of were not, and both forms are equally correct.
The other absence pattern is there were no + plural noun. For the ordinary meaning of absence in standard English, use weren't any or were no.
There weren't any + plural = There were no + plural.
There weren't any spoons on the table.
There weren't any spoons on the table.
Any makes clear that there was not a single spoon, rather than merely a small number.
There were no clean towels in the cupboard.
There were no clean towels in the cupboard.
No already supplies the negative meaning, so the verb remains were.
6. The past time frame: when to use were
Were indicates a past state of affairs. It often appears with an explicit time expression: yesterday, last night, in 2010, ten years ago, when I was a child, at that time.
If there is no explicit time expression, the conversation supplies the context: a photograph, a memory, or a story about a trip. The same sentence with are would describe the present situation, so the choice is between then and now rather than between a correct and an incorrect form in isolation.
There were two cinemas in our town in the 1990s.
There were two cinemas in our town in the 1990s.
The date explicitly identifies a past period, so were is required here.
When I started this job, there were only five people in the team.
When I started this job, there were only five people in the team.
The subordinate clause sets a past reference point; the team may be different today.
7. Scope: distinctions to keep in mind
A there sentence introduces new information. If the other person already knows about the things, it is more natural to put them at the start of the sentence without there.
If you add another complete statement about these people, separate or connect the clauses: There were many people. They were happy. They is not redundant; the error comes from joining two sentences without a boundary.
The question form Were there …? and the form for one item or an uncountable noun belong to neighboring rules in this topic; they appear here only for comparison.
There were some old letters in the drawer.
There were some old letters in the drawer.
New information: the other person does not yet know about these letters.
The old letters were in the drawer.
The old letters were in the drawer.
The letters are already known from the conversation, so there is unnecessary: the subject comes first.
Common mistakes
Incorrect:There was five chairs in the waiting room.
Correct:There were five chairs in the waiting room.
In standard written agreement, five chairs is plural, so use there were. There was with a plural occurs in informal speech, but it is not the target of this exercise.
Incorrect:There were a new bakery near the park.
Correct:There was a new bakery near the park.
A new bakery is a singular countable noun phrase, so this statement about the past requires there was.
Incorrect:There were three window in the room.
Correct:There were three windows in the room.
After the number three, the noun must be plural: windows.
Incorrect:There weren't no envelopes in the box.
Correct:There weren't any envelopes in the box.
For the ordinary meaning that no envelopes were present, standard writing uses weren't any or were no.
Incorrect:There were two shops here in 2010, but today there is three.
Correct:There were two shops here in 2010, but today there are three.
Today describes the present situation here, and three refers to three shops: use are. Keep were for the past situation in 2010.
Incorrect:It were four cups on the tray.
Correct:There were four cups on the tray.
This statement of presence starts with there; the pronoun it is not used in this construction.