There Was / There Were

Past form of there is / there are.

Examples

• There was a cat in the garden.
• There were two cars outside.

Key rules

• Use there was with a singular or uncountable noun and there were with a plural noun
• Negatives: there wasn't, there weren't
• It describes what existed in the past
• Do not use have for this idea

Common mistakes

• There was two cars → There were two cars
• Was a cat in the garden → There was a cat in the garden