Entrar
There is / there are, parte 4 de 4
There was y there were en inglés: cómo decir "había"
Había o hubo se dice there was con una cosa y there were con varias: there was a party (hubo una fiesta), there were two cakes.
La idea
Qué es there was / there were
Es el pasado de there is: dice qué había o qué hubo. Se elige igual que en presente: was con una cosa, were con varias.
- Algo que había. There was a lake here.
- Varias cosas. There were five rooms.
- Algo que pasó. There was a blackout.
Para qué sirve
Para contar qué había en un lugar, cómo era antes tu ciudad y qué pasó en un evento. Estas expresiones lo acompañan:
Para contar algo
- there was an accidenthubo un accidente
- there was a lot of traffichabía mucho tráfico
- there were fireworkshubo fuegos artificiales
Antes
- there was a movie theater hereaquí había un cine
- there were no cell phonesno había celulares
- there wasn't a mallno había centro comercial
Para preguntar
- Was there any food?¿hubo comida?
- Were there many people?¿había mucha gente?
- How many guests were there?¿cuántos invitados hubo?
- Was there a problem?¿hubo algún problema?
Ejemplos
- Lo que había antes
There was a bakery on this corner.
En esta esquina había una panadería.
- Un evento
There were two hundred guests.
Hubo doscientos invitados.
- Lo que no había
There wasn't any hot water.
No había agua caliente.
- Preguntar
Were there any problems?
¿Hubo algún problema?
- Cómo era tu pueblo
There were no traffic lights in my town.
En mi pueblo no había semáforos.
Cómo se arma
3 pasos
- Mira lo que viene después¿Una cosa o varias?a party / two parties
- Elige was o wereWas con una o con lo que no se cuenta; were con varias:There were two parties
- Agrega cuándoCasi siempre al final:There were two parties last weekend.
Afirmativa
- ThereThere
- was / werewas
- cosaa storm
- lugar o cuándolast night.
Negativa
- ThereThere
- wasn't / weren'tweren't
- (any) + cosaany taxis.
Pregunta
- Was / WereWas
- therethere
- cosa ?a menu?
La regla
Del presente al pasado
| Presente | Pasado | Ejemplo |
|---|---|---|
| there is | there was | There was a long line. |
| there are | there were | There were ten people. |
| there isn't | there wasn't | There wasn't any bread. |
| is there | was there | Was there a fee? |
There was o it was
| Español | Inglés | Cuándo |
|---|---|---|
| Hubo una fiesta. | There was a party. | Algo que existió o pasó |
| Estuvo divertida. | It was fun. | Cómo fue algo que ya nombraste |
Cómo se pronuncia
- "der uás"
there was
/ðɛr wʌz/La th es una d suave y la w suena como una u corta.
- "der uér"
there were
/ðɛr wɝ/Were es una sola sílaba: uér.
- "uás der"
was there
/wʌz ðɛr/En la pregunta, was va primero y la voz sube al final.
Comprueba
There (hueco) a lot of people at the concert.
Había y hubo: there was o there were
Si hablas español: había no cambia, there was sí
En español había sirve para una cosa y para varias. En inglés se elige: was o were.
Había un perro.
There was a dog.
Había dos perros.
There were two dogs.
Con dos o más, were.
Si hablas español
Los errores que más se cometen
There was many people.
There were many people.
Había no cambia; was sí: con varias va were.
Had a party yesterday.
There was a party yesterday.
Había o hubo no se dice con had.
Was a big storm.
There was a big storm.
Para decir hubo, there va siempre.
No lo confundas con it was
There was a concert.
Hubo un concierto
It was loud.
Estuvo ruidoso
There was dice que algo existió o pasó; it was describe algo que ya nombraste.
Was y wereEn la vida real
Con any y con no pasa igual que en presente: there wasn't any milk, there were no chairs.
Preguntas frecuentes
¿Había se dice there was o there were?
Depende de lo que sigue: había un perro, there was a dog; había dos perros, there were two dogs.
¿Hubo y había se dicen igual?
Sí, los dos son there was o there were: There was an accident (hubo un accidente), There was a park here (aquí había un parque).
¿Cómo se dice había mucha gente?
There were a lot of people, porque people son varias personas.
En resumen
- Había o hubo con una cosa: there was.
- Con varias: there were.
- Negativo: there wasn't, there weren't any.
- Pregunta: Was there a menu? Were there any taxis?