<p>1.It has been thought formany years that three-fourths of the planet Earth was covered in water, but in recent years, some experts have begun to suspectthat it might be even more than that. No error.</p>
<p>The correct answer is no error. But i thought the was should be is. Why is "was" correct?</p>
<ol>
<li>Behind the stage were the props, dressing rooms, rack of costumes, and a place for all of the actors and actresses to relax and rest between acts. No error.</li>
</ol>
<p>If the sentence were changed to "there were props, dressing rooms,............."
would the error be same in both sentences?</p>
<p>I see no errors in these two sentences. What do you mean the same error in both??
Talk freely and if possible, I will explain for you :)</p>
<p>In the first sentence shouldnt was be is? any grammatical arguments for it?</p>
<p>According to my book in the second sentence were is an error and it should be was.
What if the sentence is changed to “there were props…”?
would that change anything?</p>
<p>1) That water covered three-fourths of the planet Earth is a perception taking place many years ago, right? So the correct tense here should be past tense. “WAS”
2) It is the structure of inversion. And so “were” is nothing wrong. If you inverted the sentence, it reads:
the props, dressing rooms, rack of costumes, and a place for all of the actors and actresses to relax and rest between acts were behind the stage.
Can you tell me which this book is???</p>