Grammar: Was Vs Were?

Question

I am writing a personal narrative for my English 101 class, and I seem to be having some trouble with a particular sentence.

"The only musical knowledge I had prior to learning the violin were the piano lessons my mother had me attend when I was seven or eight years old."

I know "were" is plural so I do not know if I should be using it when everything before it is singular, but when I change it to "was" it just sounds off to me. Anyone know which one to use?

Answer 1

It's "was."



But you can finesse the problem by re-arranging the sentence in any number of ways:



> When I was seven or eight years old, my mother arranged for piano lessons for me, and this was my only musical instruction until I learned the violin.



> When I was seven or eight years old, my mother arranged for piano lessons for me. These lessons were my only source of musical instruction until I learned the violin.

Answer 2

knowledge...was

Answer 3

Look for the subject of the sentence:

One person or thing: was

More than one: were