There was / There were

Presentation

Look at the images below.

Click on each image to show its description. Use the arrows to see the rest of the images.






Use the following activities to read, notice and study the structure of there was/ were. Use them to review and use some quantity expressions.

Read about the Titanic to get specific information, and then listen to the description of a very famous city in the pas. After that, imagine visiting a museum to write about it. Finally, it is important to mention to recycle vocabulary and consult a dictionary or a grammar book in case you need help.



Objective

By the end of this topic:
• You will use the structure there was, and there were to say that something exists in the past; in negative, affirmative and interrogative form. You will recycle quantity expressions, to ask and give information about objects and places.

There is / There are?

Remember we use there is/are to express that something exists in the present. For example: with count nouns.



You also know some expressions to talk about the quantity of objects. For example:


Countable nouns

Uncountable nouns

A LOT OF people

A LOT OF pollution

SOME cars

SOME water

A FEW boats

A LITTLE danger

ANY students

ANY milk

MANY  rooms

HOW MUCH sugar was there in the cabinet?

 

Remember …

  • We use “ANY” with interrogative and negative sentences, with countable and uncountable nouns.
  • We describe the quantity of countable nouns with MANY, A FEW, SOME, and A LOT OF.
  • We describe the quantity of uncountable nouns with MUCH, A LITTLE, SOME, and A LOT OF.
  • MANY also used with questions HOW MANY…?
  • MUCH is usually used with “HOW…”, we use with interrogative and uncountable.

Now study existence in the past!

We use there was/ were to say that something exists in the past. Additionally, we can include past time expressions.

Here is the affirmative form with singular nouns:



 


There was an apple on the table.

With plural nouns:



 


There were two women in the park.

Now remember the previous picture and observe these ideas:

Was there a dog in the park?
No, there was not a dog in the park.

The negative form of there was/were formed by adding not. You can answer using a short form or contraction too

Was not = wasn’t
Were not = weren’t

My bedroom when I was a child

Look at the following picture for some seconds, then read the description.

Kid’s room

Lynn, S. (2016). Kid´s Room Mostly Unpacked [photo]. Taken from https://goo.gl/qjgxZn

“This was my bedroom when I was a child, and I was not very good at keeping everything in order. I remember there were only a few pieces of furniture. There were two beds and a piece of furniture made of cardboard. There weren’t any chairs, and there wasn’t any order.

There wasn’t much light, but there were a lot of toys everywhere. There were also a lot of pieces of paper on the floor, and there were two beds..

What was in your bedroom when you were a child?”



Let’s divide the nouns in the text and explain how we express existence with each of them.

Countable Nouns

Existence & quantity expressions

Uncountable Nouns

Existence & quantity expression

Pieces of furniture

A few

Furniture

Little

Beds

two

Order

Any (negative)

Chairs

Any (negative)

Light

Much (negative)

Toys

A lot of

 

 

Pieces of paper

A lot of

 

 

Look at the table. Notice that based on the type of noun, (countable or uncountable), there was or there were and the quantity expression was used. There quantity expressions SOME, ANY, and A LOT OF can be used with either countable or uncountable nouns.


Reading

Activity 1

What was there in the Titanic?
Titanic

Without author (1912). Titanic at the docks of Southampton [photo]. Taken from https://goo.gl/8Fidsz

The structure There was / There were is used in the following text to describe that something existed in the past. This time the text is about a famous ship.

You will read a text and identify what was there on the ship. Read the text about “The Titanic” twice. First, scan the text to get a general idea. Then, look for specific information and complete the sentences with the correct phrase.

“What was there in the Titanic?”

Have you ever seen the movie “Titanic”? Have you ever wondered what was there on it?

We investigated and found that there were 2000 passengers when it sailed from Southampton, but there were 20 lifeboats. So definitely there weren’t enough boats for everybody.

Of course, there was an enormous difference between the travelling conditions among the passengers. For example, in first and second class there was a different library. There were many tables where passengers could write letters to their families, or sit comfortably to read or write on their diaries. For men, there was a nice barbershop. There was also a dark room with all the materials to develop photos because photography was a very new hobby. There were a gymnasium and a swimming pool with salt water too. If passengers wanted to relax, they could go to the deck, where there were many chairs to lie down and rest. On board, there were hundreds of men who liked to gamble, and of course, there were a lot of them playing cards or board games. Maybe some of them would go and smoke a cigar since there was also a smoking room on the ship. There was even a newspaper on board “The Atlantic Daily Bulletin”. All the entertainment was there only for first and second class passengers, the ones in the third class had to find a way to entertain themselves. There were songs and some dancing.

A lot of pets were travelling with their owners. There were nine dogs, four hens and roosters, 30 cockerels, a yellow canary and the ship's cat named Jenny. Five of the dogs stayed with their owners in their cabins. After the Titanic went down, only three dogs and a canary survived the sinking.

Adapted text from BBC (2004) Life a board [electronic document]. Last retrieved on September 15th, 2016 from https://www.bbc.co.uk/southampton/features/titanic/onboard1.shtml


Listening

Activity 2

Memories from a Mexican worker in the USA

Practice the existence of something in the past by listening to a conversation between a boy and his grandpa.

You will identify the existence of places and objects in the past. Listen to the audio and choose the correct answer to each question.





After listening to the conversation between Mike and his grandfather, choose the correct option in each of the following questions. When you finish, check how well you did.

Grandfather and grandson

By Yessica Palomino Ocañas


Writing

Activity 3

A weekend tour

As noticed in the previous activity, sometimes we travel on business, but people also travel by pleasure. For example, when you go on vacation or travel abroad, either way, any trip will give you memories to share. In this activity, we will visit two notable museums.

To develop this activity, please visit the websites of the following museums and take a “Virtual Tour.”




Frida Kahlo Museum

The British Museum

When you finish your “visit” choose only one and write a description of the things that existed in that place. Write your description in four paragraphs. You have to include existence in the past, in negative and affirmative, singular and plural, and the quantity expressions for countable and uncountable nouns (many, a few, a little, some, much, a lot of).

Look the following pictures so that you have an idea of what to write about.



Click on the arrows to see all the images.

 

Read the example carefully so that you have an idea of what to write in your description.

“Last weekend I was out in an exciting experience. My friends and I were at the Zoo. There were many people because it was a long weekend, but there was little traffic, so we arrived fast.

In the zoo, there was a lot of garbage on the floor, and that was not nice, but the good thing was that there were many animals awake. When we were hungry, there were very few foods stands, and there wasn’t anything healthy.

Then, we were in the “safari” area. Here there were many small buses to visit the giraffe, the lion and all the wild animals. There were also many cardboard glasses with a little food for them.

When we were out of the Zoo, there wasn’t any organisation to get our car! Finally, we were on our way home. It was a fun day.”



Before sending your description, make sure it has the characteristics contained in the rubrics.

When you finish, use the rubrics to evaluate your work.


Speaking

Activity 4

My childhood bedroom

Remember your bedroom when you were younger and make some notes. Try to describe your toys and pieces of furniture in your bedroom as a child or 10 years ago.

You will record yourself describing the things that existed at that time in your room. Record yourself describing your room for 1.30 minutes. Take a look at the following pictures to have an idea of what to describe. Use negative and affirmative ideas and the vocabulary provided.

Toys for girls
Girl’s desk
Doll’s house

By Yessica Palomino Ocañas




Listen to the example so you can have a guide before recording yourself. Read the rubrics you will use to self-evaluate before doing the recording. When you have finished the recording reread the rubrics and select the columns that best represent your recording to get a score and feedback.

Self-assessment

Use of There was/There were

Based on the context, decide when to use There was/there were.

Read the following ideas and choose the best option to complete them. When you finish, check your results.

References

Complementary

  • Murphy, R. (1997). Essential grammar in use: A self-study reference and practice book for elementary students of English: with answers. Cambridge, U.K: Cambridge University Press.
  • Oxenden, C. Latham-Koenig, C. (2013). American English File 1. Oxford, U.K: Oxford University Press.