there was a book and two pens lying on the table

问题描述:

there was a book and two pens lying on the table
为什么用was而不用were

在there be句型中谓语动词遵循“就近原则”,就是与最近的名词保持一致,这句中 a book 比two pens 更靠近be动词,所以用was而不用were