were there/there were

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	Newguest  #512366  Sun, 11 May 08 11:26 AM Hello Many old friends there were or Many old friends were there. If I put "there" at the beginning then this would be: There were many old friends, but if I put "Many" as the first word, I start to get confused. I don't know why, but somehow I'm not sure which of these two is correct I know that for example if you put "only" at the beginning of the sentence, then there is some inversion further in the sentence.    Newguest Joined on Sun, Feb 25 2007 Regular Member (801)

	Marius Hancu  #512383  Sun, 11 May 08 11:51 AM **Many old friends there were [would not use it Many  old friends were there [there=in that place There were many old friends (around) [There IS NOT in that place here, but it shows existence    Marius Hancu Joined on Wed, Apr 26 2006 Montreal, Canada Veteran Member (11,629)

	Mister Micawber  #512385  Sun, 11 May 08 11:52 AM . If you intend to mean 'There were many old friends' (= many old friends existed), then neither alternative sentence is acceptable.    Mister Micawber Joined on Wed, Aug 4 2004 Yokohama Veteran Member (19,565) 'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master-- that's all.' . 'A fabis abstineto' - Anon

	Newguest  #512413  Sun, 11 May 08 12:59 PM Hi So, the correct one would be: I went to Tom's place and saw that many of my old friends were there (instead of "there were"). Right?    Newguest

	Marius Hancu  #512415  Sun, 11 May 08 01:08 PM  Yes.    Marius Hancu

	Newguest  #512439  Sun, 11 May 08 02:08 PM Thanks!    Newguest