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there were zero vs there was zero

Both phrases are correct, but they are used in different contexts. 'There were zero' is used when referring to a plural noun or countable items, while 'There was zero' is used when referring to a singular noun or uncountable items.

Last updated: March 22, 2024 • 7763 views

there were zero

This phrase is correct when referring to a plural noun or countable items.

Use 'there were zero' when you are talking about a quantity of something that is countable or plural. It indicates that there were no instances of the item or items being discussed.

Examples:

  • There were zero mistakes in the report.
  • There were zero apples left in the basket.
  • So I decided to go further in this direction and go in places where there were zero museums.
  • During the debates on excise duty on alcohol there were suggestions that zero excise duty be applied.
  • You didn't give up when her odds were zero.
  • Guess he thought your odds were zero with me on the other team.
  • By Regulation No 3009/95 goods having the same customs tariff number as those of the applicant were zero-rated with effect from 1 January 1996.
  • If my life were expressed as a function on a four-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system, that spot at the moment I first sat on it would be zero-zero-zero-zero.
  • Two base ships on dradis, bearing zero-zero-two carom zero-one-five.
  • But zero minus zero is still zero.
  • The instrument shall be set at zero by introducing a zero signal.
  • That occurs in less than point-zero-zero...
  • File zero-four-zero for profile and visual.
  • In binary, 73 is a palindrome: "one-zero-zero-one-zero-zero-one" which backwards is "one-zero- zero-one-zero-zero-one" - exactly the same.
  • The East Coast branches are numbered zero-one to zero-six.
  • Chief, I've got something at zero-three-zero.
  • 'Zero-one, calling zero-three, you're wanted at reception.
  • Half of zero is still zero.
  • Three, one, six, zero, six, zero, two, five, one, zero, six, zero, two, six, three, zero, six.
  • The two numbers are zero - as in zero footprint or zero oil - and scale it infinity.
  • Zero is Zero, a little hero of the 21st Century, and Zero can touch so many more people than I possibly could.
  • Estimated time of contact correction: ten zero zero minus zero five.

Alternatives:

  • there were none
  • there were no
  • there were no instances of
  • there were no occurrences of
  • there were no examples of

there was zero

This phrase is correct when referring to a singular noun or uncountable items.

Use 'there was zero' when you are talking about a quantity of something that is singular or uncountable. It indicates that there was no amount of the item or items being discussed.

Examples:

  • There was zero sugar left in the jar.
  • There was zero chance of winning the game.
  • You only have to look at history, at Prohibition in the USA, when there was zero tolerance of alcohol: what a wonderful success that was in solving all the problems they had in the United States!
  • There was zero benefit from me coming forward at that point...
  • Furthermore, over the last year, in southern Italy employment fell by 3.2 % and there was a zero GDP growth rate.
  • There was absolutely zero foreign chatter prior to the attack on the red line.
  • that there was 'near-zero knowledge and understanding of the functioning of the Union, its institutions and their roles', -
  • In that condition the correlation was zero.
  • The contribution of net trade to growth in 2006 was zero.
  • As of 31 December 2005, the outstanding amount under this instrument was zero.
  • And in my contract it was zero.
  • The answer was zero, a black hole that consumes all.
  • Thought you said the margin for error was zero days.
  • It was because analysis of the situation showed that the possibility of achieving them was zero, or close to zero.
  • Based on this, the Commission considers that the value of the shares in KK was zero.
  • The contribution of changes in inventories to GDP growth was zero for 2000 as a whole.
  • There was a time when the maximum wage for black folks was zero.
  • With respect to deposits collected for Livret bleu accounts, France further explained that the risk-weighting percentage for the calculation of capital requirements needed for the solvency margin was zero.
  • And by the way, when I asked him about his own likelihood of divorce, he said he was quite sure it was zero percent.
  • If my life were expressed as a function on a four-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system, that spot at the moment I first sat on it would be zero-zero-zero-zero.
  • Two base ships on dradis, bearing zero-zero-two carom zero-one-five.
  • But zero minus zero is still zero.

Alternatives:

  • there was none
  • there was no
  • there was no amount of
  • there was no quantity of
  • there was no sign of

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