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Anonymous Posted 19 years ago
Grammar

Confused about was and were

0Hi, I hope this doesn't sound too stupid, but I am really confused about the use of was and were: I seem to be using was instead of were and vice versa.02br
02br
00For example, is it:02br
02br
01i00I know that there 02i01b01i00was02i02b01i00 a pretty large group of people...02i02br
02br
01i00or02i02br
02br
01i00I know that there 02i01b01i00were02i02b01i00 a pretty large group of people...02i02br
02br
00I would usually always use 01b00were02b00 in the above example when speaking, as it sounds right to my ear, but I think I am wrong in doing this, especially if writing it 'as spoken' (if that makes sense).02br
02br
00As I understand it, a sentence should be constructed as follows:02br
02br
00There 01b00was02b00 a 01b00singular 02b00(there was a man; was a car; was a time)02br
02br
00or02br
02br
00There 01b00were02b00 01b00plural 02b00(there were men; were cars; were times)02br
02br
00But I get completely confused with things like: there was / were, a group of people, or, there were / was, a pack of wolves, etc.02br
02br
00I assume it should be: There was a group of people, the group being a single object containing an uncountable number of people, but it just doesn't sound right... Maybe I have simply 'over thought' this and confused myself?02br
02br
02br
02br
00Any help would be most appreciated. 0-
  

Top answer

) 02br 01i 00I know that there 02i 01b 01i 00were02i 02b 01i 00 a pretty large group of people... )02br 02i 0-

  • ) 02br 01i 00I know that there 02i 01b 01i 00were02i 02b 01i 00 a pretty large group of people...
  • )02br 02i 0-
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3 Answers
0
0 01i00I know that there 02i01b01i00was02i02b01i00 a pretty large group of people...02i00 (Use 'was' if you think of 'group' as an entity.) 02br
01i00I know that there 02i01b01i00were02i02b01i00 a pretty large group of people... (Use' were' if you
0
0I know that there 01b01i01b00was02b01i00 a pretty large group of people...01font00 CORRECT02font02i02br
02br
01i00or02br
02br
01i00I know that there 02i01b00were00 a pretty large group of people... 01font
0
0 00 01i00I know that there 02i01b01i00was02i02b01i00 a pretty large group of people...02i00 (right) 02br
01i02br
00I know that there 02i
01b01i00were02i02b01i00 a pretty large group of people... (wrong)02br
02br
01b

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