Apedia

People Car Lot Noun Road Is/Was Singular/Uncountable Letter

Idx 2658
Keyword there
Sub Entry Number 2
Type of Sentence
Error Sentence There was four people in the car.
Correct Sentence There were four people in the car.
Cloze Error Sentence There [[was]] four people in the car.
Cloze Sentence There [[were]] four people in the car.
Cloze Answer were
Choices was | were
Explanation

Use there is/was when the following noun is singular/uncountable: 'There was a letter on the mat.' 'There was smoke all over the house.'

Use there are/were when the following noun is plural: 'There were babies crying in every room.' 'There are many times when I would prefer to be alone.'

Note that a lot of, plenty of, etc do not affect the number of the verb. Compare: 'There was a lot of traffic on the road.' 'There were a lot of cars on the road.'

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