해 보세요: ___ a cinema on this street years ago. (There was / There were / There is) 정답: There was — 과거에 영화관이 하나 있었으므로 There was예요. "There were"는 둘 이상일 때 쓰고, "There is"는 과거가 아니라 현재에 써요.
There were = 둘 이상일 때
과거에 둘 이상의 대상이 있었다고 말할 때는 There were를 써요.
There were two bakeries in the old town.
There were lots of people at the market.
There were many trees here before.
해 보세요: ___ two bakeries in the old town. (There were / There was / There are) 정답: There were — 빵집 두 곳 = 둘 이상이므로 There were를 써요. "There was"는 하나일 때 쓰고, "There are"는 과거가 아니라 현재에 써요.
하나일까요, 둘 이상일까요?
먼저 개수를 세어 보세요. 하나 → There was(There was a cat.), 둘 이상 → There were(There were three cats.). traffic, water, food, noise처럼 셀 수 없는 명사도 여럿이 아니라 하나의 덩어리로 보므로 There was를 써요.
There was a cat. (one)
There were three cats. (more than one)
There was a lot of traffic. (can't count → was)
Not "There were a lot of traffic." — say "There was a lot of traffic.". Traffic은 셀 수 없는 하나의 덩어리이므로 was를 쓰지만, three cats는 여럿이므로 were를 써요.
해 보세요: ___ lots of people at the market last Saturday. (There were / There was / There be) 정답: There were — Lots of people = 여럿이므로 There were를 써요. "people"은 끝에 -s가 붙지 않아도 여러 명을 뜻한다는 점을 기억하세요: There were lots of people.
해 보세요: ___ a lot of traffic in the city centre. (There was / There were / There are) 정답: There was — Traffic은 셀 수 없으므로 하나의 양으로 취급해 There were가 아니라 There was를 써요. "There are"는 과거가 아니라 현재에 써요.
There wasn't = 하나일 때
하나의 대상이 없었다고 말할 때는 There wasn't(= there was not)를 써요.
There wasn't a school here.
There wasn't a single car on the road.
There wasn't anyone at the door.
해 보세요: ___ a shop on this street back then. (There wasn't / There weren't / There no was) 정답: There wasn't — A shop은 하나이므로 There wasn't를 써요(둘 이상에 쓰는 "There weren't"가 아니에요). 부정문에서도 하나인지 둘 이상인지에 따라 달라져요: 하나 → wasn't.
There weren't = 둘 이상일 때
둘 이상의 대상이 없었다고 말할 때는 There weren't(= there were not)를 써요.
There weren't any cafés nearby.
There weren't many people at the park.
There weren't any buses after midnight.
해 보세요: ___ any cafés nearby back then. (There weren't / There wasn't / There no were) 정답: There weren't — Cafés는 둘 이상이므로 There weren't를 써요(하나일 때 쓰는 "There wasn't"가 아니에요). 부정문에서도 하나인지 둘 이상인지에 따라 달라져요: 둘 이상 → weren't.
Was there / Were there
질문할 때는 was / were를 맨 앞에 둬요: 하나일 때는 Was there...?, 둘 이상일 때는 Were there...?를 써요.
Was there a park in your town?
Were there many shops?
Was there a lot of traffic?
해 보세요: ___ many shops in the old town? (Were there / There were / Was there) 정답: Were there — 질문할 때는 were가 맨 앞에 와요: Were there many shops? "There were"는 평서문이지 질문이 아니에요. 그리고 many shops = 둘 이상이므로 was가 아니라 were를 써요.
해 보세요: ___ a market in the square, and ___ lots of stalls. (There was … there were / There were … there was / There was … there was) 정답: There was … there were — 시장 하나(One market) → there was, 가판대 여러 개(Lots of stalls) → there were예요. 각 부분은 해당하는 명사를 따라가요: 하나에는 was, 여럿에는 were를 써요.