There was / There were: frasi, esercizi, test ed esempi

There was / There were usiamo

There was / There were si usa per dire che qualcosa esisteva, era presente o si trovava da qualche parte nel passato.

There was a book on the table yesterday.
C'era un libro sul tavolo ieri.
There were two students in the classroom.
C'erano due studenti nell'aula.

There was / There were Forma

La forma dipende dal fatto che stiamo parlando di una cosa / un nome non numerabile o di più di una cosa nel passato.

There was + singular noun / uncountable noun
There were + plural noun

There was a problem with the printer this morning.
C'è stato un problema con la stampante questa mattina.
There was some milk in the fridge.
C'era del latte in frigorifero.
There were three chairs in the room.
C'erano tre sedie nella stanza.

There was / There were Regola

  • C’era si usa con un sostantivo singolare, e c’erano si usa con un sostantivo plurale.
    ✅ There was a lamp near the bed.
    ✅ There were two lamps near the bed.
  • Con i sostantivi non numerabili, di solito usiamo there was.
    There was enough food for everyone.
    C'era abbastanza cibo per tutti.
    There was some information in the report.
    C’erano alcune informazioni nel rapporto.
  • Dopo la struttura, spesso aggiungiamo un luogo o un dettaglio di tempo: nella stanza, sul tavolo, ieri sera.
    There was a cat under the chair.
    C'era un gatto sotto la sedia.
    There were many people at the bus stop yesterday.
    C’erano molte persone alla fermata dell’autobus ieri.
  • Nelle frasi affermative, usiamo spesso some, e nelle domande e nelle frasi negative usiamo spesso any.
    ✅ There were some cookies in the box.
    ✅ Were there any cookies in the box?
    ✅ There weren’t any cookies in the box.
  • Nell’inglese parlato, there was è spesso usato nella sua forma regolare, e la forma negativa viene comunemente abbreviata in there wasn’t. Con there were, sono comuni la forma completa o there weren’t.
    ✅ There wasn’t any message for you.
    ✅ There were several mistakes in the text.
  • Se un elenco viene dopo la struttura, il verbo spesso concorda con il primo sostantivo dell’elenco.
    ✅ There was a sofa and two chairs in the living room.
    ✅ There were two chairs and a sofa in the living room.

There was / There were Negazione

La negazione si forma con not: there was not / there wasn’t e there were not / there weren’t.

There was not + singular noun / uncountable noun
There were not + plural noun

There wasn’t any sugar in the cupboard.
Non c'era zucchero nella credenza.
There weren’t any free tables.
Non c'erano tavoli liberi.
There wasn’t much traffic that morning.
Non c’era molto traffico quella mattina.

There was / There were Domande

Nelle domande, was o were viene prima di there.

Was there + singular noun / uncountable noun?
Were there + plural noun?
Wh-word + was / were + there ...?

Was there a pharmacy near here before?
C'era una farmacia qui vicino prima?
Were there any clean cups?
C'erano delle tazze pulite?
Why was there so much noise last night?
Perché c'era così tanto rumore ieri sera?
How many students were there in your group?
Quanti studenti c'erano nel tuo gruppo?

There was / There were Errori tipici

❌ There was two windows in the room.
✅ There were two windows in the room.
❌ There were some milk in the fridge.
✅ There was some milk in the fridge.
❌ Was there any books on the shelf?
✅ Were there any books on the shelf?
❌ In my bag was a notebook.
✅ There was a notebook in my bag.
❌ There were a lot of water on the floor.
✅ There was a lot of water on the floor.

There was / There were Frasi

There was a bus stop near my house years ago.
C'era una fermata dell'autobus vicino a casa mia anni fa.
There were four computers in the office.
C’erano quattro computer in ufficio.
There was some coffee in the kitchen.
C’era del caffè in cucina.
There wasn’t enough space in my bag.
Non c'era abbastanza spazio nella mia borsa.
There weren’t any eggs in the fridge.
Non c’erano uova nel frigorifero.
Was there a bank near the station before?
C'era una banca vicino alla stazione prima?
Were there any mistakes in this sentence?
C'erano degli errori in questa frase?
There was a good restaurant on this street.
C’era un buon ristorante in questa strada.
There were many flowers in the garden last summer.
C’erano molti fiori nel giardino la scorsa estate.
There was too much noise in there.
C’era troppo rumore lì dentro.

There was / There were Esempi

There was a message on your phone.
C'era un messaggio sul tuo telefono.
There were some children in the park.
C'erano alcuni bambini nel parco.
There was a meeting at 10 o’clock yesterday.
Ieri c’è stata una riunione alle 10.
There wasn’t any bread left.
Non era rimasto del pane.
There weren’t many shops in this village years ago.
Non c'erano molti negozi in questo villaggio anni fa.
Was there anything interesting to watch on TV?
C'era qualcosa di interessante da guardare in TV?
Were there any messages for me?
C’erano dei messaggi per me?
There was a strange smell in the room.
C'era uno strano odore nella stanza.
There were two new students in our class last month.
C'erano due nuovi studenti nella nostra classe il mese scorso.
How many pages were there in that book?
Quante pagine c'erano in quel libro?

Esercizi di grammatica inglese disponibili nell'app

Tenses

Future Simple Present Simple Present Perfect Present Continuous Past Simple Past Perfect Past Continuous Past Perfect Continuous Present Perfect Continuous Future Continuous Future Perfect Future Perfect Continuous Be going to

Conditionals

Second Conditional First Conditional Third Conditional Zero Conditional

Sentences

Relative Clauses Conjunctions Reported Speech There is / There are There was / There were

Verbs

Used to To be used to To get used to