입문 · Unit 32
There was / There were
There was / There were는 There is / are의 과거형으로, '(과거에) 이 있었다'라는 과거의 존재를 나타냅니다. 뒤에 오는 명사가 단수·셀 수 없는 명사면 There was, 복수면 There were를 씁니다.
개념 설명
There was / There were는 There is / are의 과거형으로, '(과거에) ~이 있었다'라는 과거의 존재를 나타냅니다. 뒤에 오는 명사가 단수·셀 수 없는 명사면 There was, 복수면 There were를 씁니다.
A. There was vs There were — 뒤 명사에 맞춤
There was 뒤에는 단수 명사·셀 수 없는 명사가, There were 뒤에는 복수 명사가 옵니다. 뒤 명사에 be 동사를 맞춘다 는 규칙은 현재형과 완전히 동일합니다.
| 구문 | 뒤 명사 | 예시 |
|---|---|---|
| There was | 단수 | There was a good movie last night. |
| There was | 셀 수 없는 | There was water on the floor. |
| There were | 복수 | There were five people in the room. |
| There were | 복수 | There were many mistakes in the report. |
- There was an accident on the highway. (고속도로에서 사고가 있었어요.)
- There was snow everywhere yesterday. (어제 사방에 눈이 있었어요.)
- There were lots of tourists at the museum. (박물관에 관광객이 많이 있었어요.)
- There were several problems with the plan. (그 계획에는 여러 문제가 있었어요.)
B. 과거 시간 표현과 함께
There was / were는 특정 과거 시점을 나타내는 시간 부사와 자주 결합해, 그때 무엇이 존재했음을 표현합니다. yesterday, last night, last week, ~ ago, in + 연도 등이 대표적입니다.
| 시간 표현 | 예시 |
|---|---|
| yesterday | There was a fire yesterday. |
| last night | There were many guests last night. |
| last week | There was a big storm last week. |
| ~ ago | There was a war fifty years ago. |
| in + 연도 | There were big changes in 2000. |
- There was a beautiful sunset yesterday evening. (어제 저녁 아름다운 노을이 있었어요.)
- There were lots of people at the market last Saturday. (지난 토요일 시장에 사람이 많이 있었어요.)
- There was an earthquake two days ago. (이틀 전 지진이 있었어요.)
- There were big changes in the city in 1990. (1990년에 그 도시에 큰 변화들이 있었어요.)
C. 회상·묘사 표현으로 자주 쓰임
There was / were는 과거의 장면·상황을 묘사하거나 회상하는 이야기에서 특히 자주 쓰이며, 뒤에 장소·시간 표현을 함께 붙여 완결된 묘사를 만듭니다. 이야기 시작이나 배경 설명에 아주 유용한 구문입니다.
| 어순 | 예시 |
|---|---|
| There was + 단수 + 장소·시간 | There was a big tree in front of my house. |
| There were + 복수 + 장소·시간 | There were many toys in her room. |
| Once upon a time, there was ~ | Once upon a time, there was a king. |
- There was a cozy little cafe on the corner. (모퉁이에 아늑한 작은 카페가 있었어요.)
- There were photos of us all over the wall. (벽 전체에 우리 사진들이 걸려 있었어요.)
- Once upon a time, there was a princess who lived in a castle. (옛날 옛적에 성에 사는 공주가 있었어요.)
- There was a strange sound coming from the basement. (지하실에서 이상한 소리가 나고 있었어요.)
핵심 포인트
- 1There was / There were는 There is / are의 과거형이며, 뒤 명사에 be 동사를 맞추는 규칙은 현재형과 동일하다는 점이 기본입니다.
- 2셀 수 없는 명사 앞에는 언제나 There was를 쓴다는 규칙을 익혀 두세요. (예: There was water on the floor.)
- 3yesterday, last night, ~ ago 같은 과거 시간 부사와 자주 함께 쓰인다는 신호어 규칙을 기억하세요.
- 4이야기의 시작이나 과거 장면 묘사에 There was ~ / There were ~ 구문이 매우 자주 쓰인다는 활용 감각을 익혀 두세요.
- 5Once upon a time, there was ~ 는 옛날이야기의 시작 관용 표현이라는 점도 알아두세요.
예문
There was a party at Anna's house last night.
어젯밤 Anna의 집에서 파티가 있었어요.
There was a big storm yesterday.
어제 큰 폭풍이 있었어요.
There was a lot of traffic this morning.
오늘 아침 차가 많이 막혔어요.
There was some coffee on the table.
탁자 위에 커피가 좀 있었어요.
There was an accident near my house.
저희 집 근처에서 사고가 있었어요.
이 유닛에는 예문이 더 있습니다. 가입하면 전체를 듣고 볼 수 있어요.
이렇게 틀리기 쉬워요
There was a party last night.
There were three cats.
There were many people.
There was a big storm yesterday.
There was some water on the floor.