There was / There were: phrases, exercices, tests et exemples

There was / There were utilisons

There was / There were s’utilise pour dire que quelque chose existait, était présent ou se trouvait quelque part dans le passé.

There was a book on the table yesterday.
Il y avait un livre sur la table hier.
There were two students in the classroom.
Il y avait deux élèves dans la salle de classe.

There was / There were Forme

La forme dépend du fait que nous parlons d’une chose / d’un nom indénombrable ou de plus d’une chose dans le passé.

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

There was a problem with the printer this morning.
Il y a eu un problème avec l’imprimante ce matin.
There was some milk in the fridge.
Il y avait du lait dans le réfrigérateur.
There were three chairs in the room.
Il y avait trois chaises dans la pièce.

There was / There were Règle

  • There was s’emploie avec un nom singulier, et there were s’emploie avec un nom pluriel.
    ✅ There was a lamp near the bed.
    ✅ There were two lamps near the bed.
  • Avec les noms indénombrables, nous utilisons généralement there was.
    There was enough food for everyone.
    Il y avait assez de nourriture pour tout le monde.
    There was some information in the report.
    Il y avait quelques informations dans le rapport.
  • Après la structure, nous ajoutons souvent un lieu ou un détail de temps : dans la pièce, sur la table, la nuit dernière.
    There was a cat under the chair.
    Il y avait un chat sous la chaise.
    There were many people at the bus stop yesterday.
    Il y avait beaucoup de monde à l’arrêt de bus hier.
  • Dans les phrases affirmatives, on utilise souvent some, et dans les questions et les phrases négatives, on utilise souvent any.
    ✅ There were some cookies in the box.
    ✅ Were there any cookies in the box?
    ✅ There weren’t any cookies in the box.
  • En anglais parlé, there was est souvent utilisé sous sa forme régulière, et la forme négative est couramment abrégée en there wasn’t. Avec there were, la forme complète ou there weren’t est courante.
    ✅ There wasn’t any message for you.
    ✅ There were several mistakes in the text.
  • Si une liste vient après la structure, le verbe s’accorde souvent avec le premier nom de la liste.
    ✅ 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 Négation

La négation se forme avec not : there was not / there wasn’t et 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.
Il n’y avait pas de sucre dans le placard.
There weren’t any free tables.
Il n’y avait aucune table libre.
There wasn’t much traffic that morning.
Il n’y avait pas beaucoup de circulation ce matin-là.

There was / There were Questions

Dans les questions, was ou were vient avant there.

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

Was there a pharmacy near here before?
Y avait-il une pharmacie près d’ici avant ?
Were there any clean cups?
Y avait-il des tasses propres ?
Why was there so much noise last night?
Pourquoi y avait-il autant de bruit la nuit dernière ?
How many students were there in your group?
Combien y avait-il d’étudiants dans votre groupe ?

There was / There were Erreurs courantes

❌ 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 Phrases

There was a bus stop near my house years ago.
Il y avait un arrêt de bus près de chez moi il y a des années.
There were four computers in the office.
Il y avait quatre ordinateurs dans le bureau.
There was some coffee in the kitchen.
Il y avait du café dans la cuisine.
There wasn’t enough space in my bag.
Il n’y avait pas assez de place dans mon sac.
There weren’t any eggs in the fridge.
Il n’y avait pas d’œufs dans le réfrigérateur.
Was there a bank near the station before?
Y avait-il une banque près de la gare auparavant ?
Were there any mistakes in this sentence?
Y avait-il des erreurs dans cette phrase ?
There was a good restaurant on this street.
Il y avait un bon restaurant dans cette rue.
There were many flowers in the garden last summer.
Il y avait beaucoup de fleurs dans le jardin l’été dernier.
There was too much noise in there.
Il y avait trop de bruit là-dedans.

There was / There were Exemples

There was a message on your phone.
Il y avait un message sur votre téléphone.
There were some children in the park.
Il y avait quelques enfants dans le parc.
There was a meeting at 10 o’clock yesterday.
Il y a eu une réunion hier à 10 heures.
There wasn’t any bread left.
Il ne restait plus de pain.
There weren’t many shops in this village years ago.
Il n’y avait pas beaucoup de magasins dans ce village il y a des années.
Was there anything interesting to watch on TV?
Y avait-il quelque chose d’intéressant à regarder à la télévision ?
Were there any messages for me?
Y avait-il des messages pour moi ?
There was a strange smell in the room.
Il y avait une étrange odeur dans la pièce.
There were two new students in our class last month.
Il y avait deux nouveaux élèves dans notre classe le mois dernier.
How many pages were there in that book?
Combien de pages y avait-il dans ce livre ?

Exercices de grammaire anglaise disponibles dans l’application

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