Was /were

Vincent Teo(a ) There was much/a lot of/plenty of scrumptious food and a cake on the table.

Only "was" is correct, since food is uncountable.

Vincent Teo(b) There were many types of food on the table.

It's ok.

Vincent TeoCan I say,
(a ) There was / were many scrumptious food and a cake on the table.

(b) There was / were many types of food on the table.

Hello Vincent

(a) No, you can't: The verb 'was' (not 'were') is fine with both the non-count noun 'food' and the count noun a 'cake'. But the problem lies with your choice of determiner: the plu

Hi BillJ,

I hope it's OK to ask a related question though I'm not the original poster.

Suppose we change 'cake' to plural 'cakes', is 'was' still correct?

A. There was much food and cakes on the table.
B. There was cakes and much food on the table.

To my ears, sentence A sounds fine, but in B, don't you think 'were' intead of '

Can I say,

There was / were a big cake and some food on the table.

Yes.

After There, was and were agree with the first subject.

There was much food and many cakes.

There were many cakes and much food.

How about this?

There was / were a big cake and some food on the table.

The verb agrees with the first subject.