There were a bunch of teenagers who were trying to reach the party.

[tufguy]

1) There were a bunch of teenagers who were trying to reach the party.

2) There was a bunch of teenagers who were trying to reach the party.

Which one is correct?

 

[GoesStation]

Number one. But you can drop three words without changing the meaning.

 

[emsr2d2]

You'll hear both "There were" and "There was" in that context. For me, only "There was" works because it refers to "a bunch", which is singular. People who use "There were" are considering "a bunch of teenagers" as plural, because there are clearly several people involved.

I can see two words that can be removed but I can't work out what the third word that GoesStation is referring to is.

 

[emsr2d2]

Ah, I removed "who was/were".