Question

There was还是There were

Answer 1

• There was + 单数名词, 用于一般过去时，表示现在某个地方有（单数的或）一个事物或一个人或某些（不可数的）事物，eg:

  There was an old tree in front of the building two weeks ago.

  两周前这建筑物前还有一棵古老的树.

• There were+复数名词, 用于一般过去时，表示过去某个地方有某些事物或人物，eg:

  There were many old buildings in this street ten years ago.

  十年前这条街道上有许多古老的建筑物.

• “There were”和“There was”都属于“There be”句型，Therebe句型是英语中常用句型，意思是“有”，表示“人或事物的存在”或“某地有某物”。There在此结构中是引导词，已经没有副词“那里”的含义。

• There be 后面的名词是句子的 主语，属 倒装结构。疑问句形式是将be或will/have/can/must等助动词、情态动词提至there之前，否定形式则直接在be或助动词、情态动词后加not，因此要表达“某个地方或某个时间存在什么事物或人”的时候常用“There be + 名词+ 地点（时间）这一句型。
  

Answer 2

There was 后接可数名词单数或不可数名词，There were 后接可数名词复数。