'There was a lot to do' VS 'There were a lot to do'

Question

Hello everyone,

Which is correct and why?

There was a lot to do.

There were a lot to do.

Answer 1

Hi

The first one is correct as it has the uncountable word "work" as an elliptical part in it:)

There is a lot (of work) to do.

Comments

Thank you very much indeed

Answer 2

There was a lot to do.

اساسا" این‌ جمله شکل‌اش ثابت است و همیشه همین است، و از این گذشته،  a lot یعنی "یک خروار"، و به دلیل وجود "یک" مفرد محسوب می‌شود.

Answer 3

Hi,

I think the first one is OK , as in order to use were in the second sentence, a plural noun after a lot is needed. e.g. there were a lot of jobs / homeworks to do.

Comments

Thanks a bunch

Answer 4

A lot of what? If a lot of sth "plural " then you would have to use "were", if you were to refer to lot of sth "singular", then "was" is preferred.

Examples:

There is a lot of things... is commonly used, but is grammatically incorrect because things is plural.

There was a lot of noise in the hall ...OK
There was a lot of junk in this room ...OK

There was a lot of stuff to do ...OK

there was a lot of work to do ...Ok

but were is used for these guys:

There were a lot of things to take care of

There were a lot of cases to handle

There were a lot of questions to answer 

 

so in conclusion since in "There was a lot to do, 

or There were a lot to do" 

you do not mention lot of what, then both are fine 

Again, I am not 100% sure, so don't quote me on that :)

Comments

Long time, no see!

Good to see you around again brother.

Thanks for the detailed answer.

---

My pleasure :) good to virtually see you again too :)

Answer 5

ممنون از پاسخ هایی که دوستان دادن....

ولی به نظرم بد نیست به متن انگلیسی این فیلم  نگاه شود و همچین ساختاریی با were مشاهده شود. البته فک کنم خیلی کمیاب هستش.

Dersimiz: Atatürk

 (2010)

 

• 00:46:55 Thank you, Sir.

• 00:46:58 His nation welcomed Atatürk with a unique excitement when he came back from the war.

• 00:47:02 There were a lot to do now.

• 00:47:05 Most of Turkey was still living in middle ages then. What did that mean?

• 00:47:10 Middle ages meant illiteracy, poverty, underdevelopment and bigotry.

• ...................................................................

ciao ciao