In Spanish there is one form, using El Pretérito Indefinido, to say both there was and there were.
Learn how to say there was/there were in Spanish
In Spanish we use hubo to say there was or there were. Read and listen to these examples:
In Spanish, you use hubo whether it is followed by one item or many, unlike in English.
GRAMMAR: Both Hay and Hubo are impersonal forms that come from the third person of the verb haber. Hubo is in El Pretérito Indefinido, literally meaning it had.
Haber belongs to a group of verbs that have an irregular stem in El Pretérito Indefinido but share the same set of endings. To learn more about this have a look at Irregulares en Indefinido/mismas terminaciones.
Careful! there's another way to say there was/were:
See also "There was"/"there were" in Spanish: había and Spanish Había vs Hubo (Imperfect vs Preterite)
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