En el escaparate de la pastelería había una tarta muy grande con fresas y chocolate.

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Breakdown of En el escaparate de la pastelería había una tarta muy grande con fresas y chocolate.

• grande: big
• en: in
• muy: very

Questions & Answers about En el escaparate de la pastelería había una tarta muy grande con fresas y chocolate.

Why does the sentence use había instead of estaba?

Because haber in había is being used in its existential sense: there was / there were.

So:

• Había una tarta... = There was a cake...

By contrast, estaba would describe the location or state of something already identified:

• La tarta estaba en el escaparate. = The cake was in the shop window.

A useful shortcut:

• había = there was / there were
• estaba / estaban = was / were for something specific

In this sentence, the speaker is introducing the cake as something that existed in that place, so había is the natural choice.

Why is it había una tarta and not habían una tarta?

Because in this use, haber stays in the singular.

So Spanish says:

• Había una tarta. = There was one cake.
• Había dos tartas. = There were two cakes.

Even with a plural noun, standard Spanish normally keeps haber singular in existential sentences.

So:

• correct: Había muchas tartas
• non-standard in careful Spanish: Habían muchas tartas

This is a very common point for learners because English changes was/were, but Spanish usually does not here.

Why is it en el escaparate?