Thread: была или были?

Originally Posted by ambi

Originally Posted by mudrets

Originally Posted by tohca

У кого была большая банка икры?
или
У кого были большая банка икры?

I think that было, meaning there was, is used more often in this kind of sentence.

Could you clarify what you mean? I'm afraid, you got it wrong.

Yes, I got it wrong. I was thinking of the negative usage:У него не было банки

Using Google, though, I have found было being used occasionally in the affirmative with masculine and feminine words. Those instances might be typos.