试一试: ___ a cinema on this street years ago. (There was / There were / There is) 答案: There was — 以前只有一家电影院 → There was。"There were" 是用于不止一个的情况，"There is" 说的是现在，不是过去。
There were = 不止一个
要说过去存在两个或更多东西，用 There were。
There were two bakeries in the old town.
There were lots of people at the market.
There were many trees here before.
试一试: ___ two bakeries in the old town. (There were / There was / There are) 答案: There were — 两家面包店 = 不止一个，所以用 There were。"There was" 用于一个的情况，"There are" 说的是现在，不是过去。
一个，还是不止一个？
先数一数。一个东西 → There was（There was a cat.）。两个或更多 → There were（There were three cats.）。数不了的东西——比如 traffic、water、food、noise——也用 There was，因为你把它们当作一份量，而不是很多个。
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.". Traffic 是不可数的一个整体，所以用 was；但 three cats 是多个，要用 were。
试一试: ___ lots of people at the market last Saturday. (There were / There was / There be) 答案: There were — 很多人 = 不止一个，所以用 There were。记住 "people" 表示很多人，即使它不是以 -s 结尾：There were lots of people。
试一试: ___ a lot of traffic in the city centre. (There was / There were / There are) 答案: There was — traffic 是数不了的，所以把它当作一份量，用 There was，不用 There were。"There are" 说的是现在，不是过去。
There wasn't = 一个
要说过去不存在一个东西，用 There wasn't（= there was not）。
There wasn't a school here.
There wasn't a single car on the road.
There wasn't anyone at the door.
试一试: ___ a shop on this street back then. (There wasn't / There weren't / There no was) 答案: There wasn't — shop 是一个东西，所以用 There wasn't（不用 "There weren't"，那个是用于不止一个的情况）。否定形式还是跟着数量走：一个 → wasn't。
There weren't = 不止一个
要说过去不存在不止一个东西，用 There weren't（= there were not）。
There weren't any cafés nearby.
There weren't many people at the park.
There weren't any buses after midnight.
试一试: ___ any cafés nearby back then. (There weren't / There wasn't / There no were) 答案: There weren't — cafés 不止一个，所以用 There weren't（不用 "There wasn't"，那个是用于一个东西的情况）。否定形式还是跟着数量走：不止一个 → weren't。
Was there / Were there
要提问，把 was / were 放到最前面：一个东西用 Was there...?，不止一个用 Were there...?。
Was there a park in your town?
Were there many shops?
Was there a lot of traffic?
试一试: ___ many shops in the old town? (Were there / There were / Was there) 答案: Were there — 提问时 were 放在最前面：Were there many shops? "There were" 是陈述句，不是疑问句。many shops = 不止一个，所以用 were，不用 was。
试一试: ___ a market in the square, and ___ lots of stalls. (There was … there were / There were … there was / There was … there was) 答案: There was … there were — 一个市场 → there was。很多摊位（不止一个）→ there were。每一部分都跟着自己说的名词走：一个用 was，多个用 were。