I’ve never been the best at written English and would appreciate help with the following:- Should the sentance read:

A group of buildings was present (single group but plural buildings) or
A group of buildings were present ?

Ta

was

was

“sentence”

sentence. and was.

I think it should be ‘was’: a group was present.

But it might be tautological to say that a group of buildings was present. If they weren’t present, they wouldn’t be buildings … how about ‘there was a group of buildings’?

Dorset knob has it.

Agreed with Dorset-Knob.

Or ditch the “group”, as it isn’t clear it’s adding anything to the plural. “Buildings were present” if you must use the passive.

Or ditch the “group”, as it isn’t clear it’s adding anything to the plural

That’s a good point. If the fact that the buildings formed a group is relevant, leave it in.

But if it’s coincidental, you could just say ‘There were some buildings’, which implies that they’re grouped anyway.

So now it’s easier to talk about why the buidlings are important: ‘There were some buildings, which … ‘ and then go on to finish the sentence.

… then write it out a hundred times before dawn.

“Some buildings were grouped around…”?