There was a woman and a police officer ...

[teacherjapan]

I heard two people talking loudly outside, so I looked through the window, wondering what was going on. There was a woman and a police officer standing there.

 

[5jj]

There were ...

 

[Tarheel]

I heard two people talking loudly outside, so I looked through the window, wondering what was going on. There was a woman and a police officer standing there.

I wouldn't expect to hear anybody say it differently.

If it makes you feel better you could read it as: "There was a woman and (there was) a police officer standing there.

 

[5jj]

I have changed your thread title, teacherjapan. Thread titles should be unique, relevant, and include some/all of the sentence you're asking us to look at.

Where did you find the original sentence?

 

[teacherjapan]

I have changed your thread title, teacherjapan. Thread titles should be unique, relevant, and include some/all of the sentence you're asking us to look at.

Where did you find the original sentence?

I wrote it myself.

 

[emsr2d2]

@teacherjapan You didn't actually ask us a question in post #1. Posting a couple of sentences without making it clear what you'd like us to do with them is pointless.

 

[teacherjapan]

@teacherjapan You didn't actually ask us a question in post #1. Posting a couple of sentences without making it clear what you'd like us to do with them is pointless.

Sorry, I was going to ask whether “was” or “were” is correct when the subjects are two singular nouns.
I am sure that when plural nouns are the subject, I should use “were”.
Example) There were a few students in the classroom.

 

[Tarheel]

Sorry, I was going to ask whether “was” or “were” is correct when the subjects are two singular nouns.
I am sure that when plural nouns are the subject, I should use “were”.
Example) There were a few students in the classroom.

That could be an interesting discussion. (This one seems to have gotten lost in the shuffle.)

 

[jutfrank]

I say was is the correct answer here. I don't think were is right, or that many people (anyone?) would say it.

 

[5jj]

For me, There was a woman and a police officer standing there is as incorrect as A woman and a police officer was standing there or Two people was standing there.

 

[dunchee]

Grammar note from the Random House Unabridged Dictionary:

7... With compound subjects in which all the coordinate words are singular, a singular verb often occurs, although the plural may also be used: There was (or were) a horse and a cow in the pasture....

I understand in daily English many anglophones tend to say "was", but in tests such as GMAT, "were" is more likely the correct answer.
GMAT Prep Course - Page 498
Publisher: Nova Press
Jeff Kolby · 2016

In these constructions, it is tempting to mistakenly use a singular verb before the plural subject.
Example (wrong):

There is a wallet and a key on the dresser.​

.... It requires a plural verb:

There are a wallet and a key on the dresser.​

This error occurs often in daily speech because ...

(I attached a screenshot of the said page below.)

(*1)GMAT -- Graduate Management Admission Test

Graduate Management Admission Test - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Tarheel]

People do sometimes tell me how they think I should speak my language. I rarely (if ever) agree with them.

 

[Phlebas the Phoenician]

"Who is the third who walks always beside you?
When I count, there are only you and I together" (T. S. Eliot, The Waste Land, Part V, fourth stanza)

 

[PaulMatthews]

[1] There was a key on the table,

[2] There were some keys on the table,

Existential "there" is an unusual subject: it has no inherent number, but takes on the number of the displaced subject -- singular in [1], with "was" as the verb and plural in [2] with "were".

[3] There was / were a woman and a police officer standing there.

But in [3], neither "woman" nor "officer" are plural; instead they form a coordination of two singular nouns. Plural "were" is correct, but the proximity of the singular noun "woman" to the verb may lead us to think that it should be singular "was", just as it would be in There was a book and two magazines on the table.

To add to the confusion, in the case of reduced is in present tense clauses we commonly find "there" always treated as singular:

There's some keys on the table.

 

[5jj]

When I count, there are only you and I together"

Interestingly though we say You are there, There you are, and There they are we say There is only you left from that group.

 

[PaulMatthews]

Interestingly though we say You are there, There you are, and There they are we say There is only you left from that group.

That's because the "there" in your first three examples is not existential, but locative "there", hence "are".

By contrast, the "there" in your last example is existential, and thus subject. Singular "is" marks the displaced subject "only you ..." as singular". If there was more than one person left, we would expect There are only you left from that group,

 

[jutfrank]

There was a woman and a police officer standing there.

I wonder how many people would use 'were' in that sentence. If it could be demonstrated that it were less than half the population, would those members who believe the sentence is incorrect change their minds?

 

[Phlebas the Phoenician]

I'd be interested to know whether those who prefer the plural verb in the sentence in question would continue to prefer it if the indefinite articles were changed to "one":

There were one woman and one police officer standing there.

 

[daniellemill]

I wrote it myself.

I also constantly study mainly from videos)))

 

[emsr2d2]

I also constantly study, mainly from videos.

Remember to punctuate sentences correctly.

)))

This means nothing. If you were trying to make an emoji, please choose the icon from the toolbar and choose an appropriate one. An emoji is never a replacement for a closing punctuation mark.