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?