"There was" e "There were" são as formas que adotam "There is" e "There are" em simple past.
"There was" e "There were" se usam para indicar que algo ou alguém existiu ou existia (no passado). Veja a forma afirmativa, negativa e interrogativa que estas formas adotam no tempo simple past.
Forma afirmativa em simple past.
|
There was |
Houve / Havia |
|
There were |
Houve / Havia |
Forma negativa em simple past.
|
There was not |
|
There wasn't |
Não houve / Não havia |
|
There were not |
|
There weren't |
Não houve / Não havia |
Forma interrogativa em simple past.
|
Was there? |
Houve / Havia? |
|
Were there? |
Houve / Havia? |
Respostas curtas em simple past.
|
Yes, there was |
|
No, there was not No, there wasn't |
|
Yes, there were |
|
No, there were not No, there weren't |
Usa-se "there was" para o singular.
Exemplo:
There was a bank on this street twenty years ago.
(Havia um banco nesta rua vinte anos atrás.)
Usa-se "there were" para o plural.
Exemplos:
There were a few trees in the park three years ago.
(Havia algumas árvores no parque três anos atrás.)