Word.ws English Dictionary

there was

there was is the simple past singular of there be.

Meaning of there be

Verb

there be (highly irregular; see conjugation table)

  1. Of the specified thing: to exist, physically or abstractly.
    • Let there be light.
    Synonyms:
    there exist

Questions about there was

What is there was the simple past singular of?
There was is the simple past singular of there be.

Words near there was in the dictionary

  1. there one has it
  2. there ought to be a law
  3. there oughta be a law
  4. there oughtta be a law
  5. there she blows
  6. there was
  7. there we go
  8. there were
  9. there ya go
  10. there you are
  11. there you go

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: there was (page history and authors); there be (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “there was.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/there_was. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.