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Grammar - Level 2

There Was/There Were || Clauses with Who and That

When we want to say that something existed or happened we use there was or there were.
There was (singular and non – countable nouns)
There were (plural and countable nouns)
Negative form:
There was + not = there wasn’t
There were + not = there weren’t

  • There was a nice party last semester.
  • There were a lot of people in the stadium last night.

Structure:

There was/ were + Complementizer + Expression of past time

Statement:
  • There was a parade this morning.
Question:
  • Was there a parade this morning?
Affirmative Answer:
  • Yes, there was a parade this morning.
Negative Answer:
  • No, there wasn’t a parade this morning.
Statement:
  • There were many students in my class tonight.
Question:
  • Were there many students in your class tonight? 
Affirmative Answer:
  • Yes, there were many students in my class tonight. 
Negative Answer:
  • No, there weren’t any students in my class tonight. 

Clauses with “Who and That”

In English when we refer to people we use “who” and when we refer to things we use “that” to join two ideas.

That is the man.
Came yesterday.

That is the man who came yesterday. 

This is the car.
My father bought last summer.

This is the car that my father bought last summer. 

But when we have personal pronouns in the subject of the first clause, we have to use “who“. However, ometimes people use that instead of who in informal situations.

He is the boy.
Won the contest.

He is the boy that won the contest. 

She is the doctor.
Operated on my friend.

She is the doctor that operated on my friend.