Affirmative +
There was/there were + what + where
sg
There was a sofa in the room. (a/an+sg countable nouns)
There was some butter in the fridge. (some + uncountable nouns)
pl
There were some pillows on the sofa. (some + pl nouns)
Negative –
sg
There wasn’t a sofa in the room.
There wasn’t any butter in the fridge. (any+ uncountable nouns) (= There was no butter in the fridge).
pl
There weren’t any pillows on the sofa .(any+ pl countable nouns) (=There are no plants on the windowsill)
Question ?
sg
Was there a sofa in the room?
Was there any butter in the fridge? (any+ uncountable nouns)
pl
Were there any pillows on the sofa? (any+ pl countable nouns)
Short answer
sg
Yes, there was./ No, there wasn’t.
pl
Yes, there were./ No, there weren’t.
Special Question ?
sg
What was there in the room/in the fridge/on the sofa?