There is and there are: How and When to Use in English
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There is and there are
There is and there are are used to say that something exists or is present:
There's a problem. A problem exists.
Is there a mall in this town? Is a mall present in this town?
There were twenty people at the party. The number of people at the party was twenty.
Note:
ā¢ In informal language, there's is sometimes followed by a plural:
ā¢ In informal language, there's is sometimes followed by a plural:
There's lots of pretty girls around here. There are many pretty girls around here.
This expression also works with:
ā¢ auxiliary verbs
ā¢ auxiliary verbs
There will be a winner. Someone will win.
There must be a mistake. I'm sure something is wrong here.
There is no time to lose. We have no time to waste.
ā¢ certain ordinary verbs
There seems to be a problem. I think there's a problem.
There happened to be a storm. There was a storm, by chance.
Exercise 1
Do the sentences below use 'there is' accurately? Choose 'Correct' or 'Incorrect' for each example.
'There is seeming to be a problem with you' =
'There were seventeen years ago, he began to sell fish' =
'There are three kilometers from the statue to the cemetery' =
'There is seeming to be a problem with you' =
'There were seventeen years ago, he began to sell fish' =
'There are three kilometers from the statue to the cemetery' =
Do the sentences below use 'there is' accurately? Choose 'Correct' or 'Incorrect' for each example.
'There is seeming to be a problem with you' = Incorrect 1
'There were seventeen years ago, he began to sell fish' = Incorrect 2
'There are three kilometers from the statue to the cemetery' = Incorrect 3
'There is seeming to be a problem with you' = Incorrect 1
'There were seventeen years ago, he began to sell fish' = Incorrect 2
'There are three kilometers from the statue to the cemetery' = Incorrect 3
1 Incorrect: This sentence is incorrect. We cannot use the present progressive tense in a construction such as this. 'There is' is never followed by a verb in the present progressive tense. The correct sentence should read: 'There seems to be a problem with you'.
1 Correct: This sentence is not correct.
2 Incorrect: This sentence is incorrect. We cannot use the expression 'there is' to express a period of time. The correct sentence should read: 'He began to sell fish seventeen years ago' or '17 years ago, he began selling fish'.
2 Correct: This sentence is not correct.
3 Incorrect: This sentence is incorrect. In English, we do not use the expression 'there is/there are' to express distance. The correct sentence should read: 'The statue is three kilometers from the cemetery'.
3 Correct: This sentence is not correct.
Exercise 2
Complete the following sentences using either there is or there are.
Dad, a piece of broccoli in my soup. You know I hate broccoli!
Horatio, lots of water on the laboratory floor. Is that normal?
many different ways to get a job. Trust me, Iāve tried them all.
Dad, a piece of broccoli in my soup. You know I hate broccoli!
Horatio, lots of water on the laboratory floor. Is that normal?
many different ways to get a job. Trust me, Iāve tried them all.
Complete the following sentences using either there is or there are.
Dad, there is 1 a piece of broccoli in my soup. You know I hate broccoli!
Horatio, there is 2 lots of water on the laboratory floor. Is that normal?
There are 3 many different ways to get a job. Trust me, Iāve tried them all.
Dad, there is 1 a piece of broccoli in my soup. You know I hate broccoli!
Horatio, there is 2 lots of water on the laboratory floor. Is that normal?
There are 3 many different ways to get a job. Trust me, Iāve tried them all.
1 there is: We use there is before singular nouns like "a piece". Other examples: "There is a bird in that tree"; "There is an airplane in the sky".
1 there are: We use there are before plural nouns. For example: "There are six strings on a standard guitar". "A piece of broccoli" is not a plural noun.
2 there is: We use there is before uncountable nouns like water, money, hope, etc. Uncountable nouns act like singular nouns in grammatical terms. Another example: "There is no trust left between them".
2 there are: Don't be confused by the word "lots", which looks like a plural noun. It is a quantifier for the main noun, water, and "there is" must agree with the main noun. You would also ignore the quantifiers in examples such as: "There are a few people" or "There is loads of money", since words like "lots", "a few" or "loads" don't refer to real, concrete objects.
3 There are: We use there are before plural nouns like ways. Other examples: "There are penguins on that island"; "There are too many thoughts in my head".
3 There is: We use there is before singular (or uncountable) nouns. For example: "There is an apple on your head. Why?".
Exercise 3
Complete the following sentences using a form of there is or there are. Make sure to conjugate your answer if necessary. Do not use the verbs "may", "might", "must", "can", "could" or "should".
a difference between being lazy and leaving the tap running on purpose, Harold.
I thought that a few people who won employee of the month last year, but Iāve just discovered that Susie won every month.
If you donāt send me the money by the end of the day, trouble.
a difference between being lazy and leaving the tap running on purpose, Harold.
I thought that a few people who won employee of the month last year, but Iāve just discovered that Susie won every month.
If you donāt send me the money by the end of the day, trouble.
Complete the following sentences using a form of there is or there are. Make sure to conjugate your answer if necessary. Do not use the verbs "may", "might", "must", "can", "could" or "should".
There is 1 a difference between being lazy and leaving the tap running on purpose, Harold.
I thought that there were 2 a few people who won employee of the month last year, but Iāve just discovered that Susie won every month.
If you donāt send me the money by the end of the day, there will be 3 trouble.
There is 1 a difference between being lazy and leaving the tap running on purpose, Harold.
I thought that there were 2 a few people who won employee of the month last year, but Iāve just discovered that Susie won every month.
If you donāt send me the money by the end of the day, there will be 3 trouble.
1 There is: This is a statement in the simple present tense, with a singular object ("a difference"), so we use there is. The speaker is making a general statement about something which is always true, so the simple present tense is most appropriate. Another example: "There is a lesson to be learned from every failure".
2 there were: This sentence is about what happened "last year", which is a defined time period in the past, so we use the simple past tense: there were. We use the plural there were (instead of there was) to match the plural object people. Another example: "There were several mistakes in your presentation".
3 there will be: There will be is the future tense form of there is or there are (it can be used before any noun, singular or plural). We use the future tense here because the speaker is referring to what will exist if something doesn't happen by the end of the day (before the end of today). Another example: "When the hotel's restoration is completed, there will be 72 rooms available for guests to use".
Exercise 4
The following sentences use versions of the expressions there is and there are. Choose the correct form of the verb to complete each sentence in the dialogue.
Polly: Surely there must an alternative to buying a new computer!
Bob: Well, there might , but Iām not sure.
Polly: Arenāt you head of IT?
Bob: Yesā¦
Polly: Trust me: you won't for much longer if you donāt fix this soon.
Polly: Surely there must an alternative to buying a new computer!
Bob: Well, there might , but Iām not sure.
Polly: Arenāt you head of IT?
Bob: Yesā¦
Polly: Trust me: you won't for much longer if you donāt fix this soon.
The following sentences use versions of the expressions there is and there are. Choose the correct form of the verb to complete each sentence in the dialogue.
Polly: Surely there must be 1 an alternative to buying a new computer!
Bob: Well, there might be 2, but Iām not sure.
Polly: Arenāt you head of IT?
Bob: Yesā¦
Polly: Trust me: you won't be 3 for much longer if you donāt fix this soon.
Polly: Surely there must be 1 an alternative to buying a new computer!
Bob: Well, there might be 2, but Iām not sure.
Polly: Arenāt you head of IT?
Bob: Yesā¦
Polly: Trust me: you won't be 3 for much longer if you donāt fix this soon.
1 be: When Polly says "surely there must be an alternative", she means that it seems highly probable that an alternative exists. After a modal verb like "must", we use the infinitive of the verb, without "to". For example: "There must be some way out of here!"; "There should be an emergency exit near here".
1 is: We cannot use a conjugated verb after the modal verb "must". Polly could have said: "Surely there is an alternative".
1 being: We cannot use the -ing form of the verb after a modal verb like "must".
2 be: Bob says "there might be", which means that it is possible that an alternative exists. "Might" is another modal verb, so again, we use the infinitive of the verb (without "to"). Another example: "There may be some opposition to your proposal".
2 being: We cannot use the -ing form of the verb after a modal verb like "may".
2 to be: We have to remove the word "to" here. We cannot use the full infinitive after a modal verb like "may".
3 be: "Won't" is a contraction of "will not". Polly is saying that Bob will stop being head of IT if he can't solve the problem. The future tense is formed using will followed by the infinitive of the verb, without "to". Another example: "She will receive a bonus next month for her hard work".
3 to be: We have to remove the word "to" here. We cannot use the full infinitive after the auxiliary verb "will" (or its negative equivalent, "won't").
3 will be: Adding "will" here is redundant, because "won't" is a contraction of "will not". We never use the auxiliary verb "will" twice in succession.
Exercise 5
The following sentences use versions of the expressions there is and there are. Choose the correct term to complete each sentence in the dialogue.
When Luna told me that there fifty-two people in the role of Special Assistant to Bruno Delavigne before me, I was worried. āThere be something wrong with himā, I thought. I had no idea that this be the best job of my entire life.
When Luna told me that there fifty-two people in the role of Special Assistant to Bruno Delavigne before me, I was worried. āThere be something wrong with himā, I thought. I had no idea that this be the best job of my entire life.
The following sentences use versions of the expressions there is and there are. Choose the correct term to complete each sentence in the dialogue.
When Luna told me that there had been 1 fifty-two people in the role of Special Assistant to Bruno Delavigne before me, I was worried. āThere has to 2 be something wrong with himā, I thought. I had no idea that this would 3 be the best job of my entire life.
When Luna told me that there had been 1 fifty-two people in the role of Special Assistant to Bruno Delavigne before me, I was worried. āThere has to 2 be something wrong with himā, I thought. I had no idea that this would 3 be the best job of my entire life.
1 had been: There had been is the past perfect tense form of there is or there are (it can be used before any noun, singular or plural). We use the past perfect tense to specify that one past action happened before another past action: the 52 people had been in the job before Luna told the speaker about this. Another example: "I was very worried when the police officer told me that there had been an explosion nearby".
1 are: Because the 52 people occupied the role of Special Assistant in the past, we cannot use the present tense "there are" here. "There are" refers to something that exists now or which happens regularly in the present. For example: "There are five yoga sessions per week in our gym".
1 were being: In general, we do not say "there were being" in English. The phrase "there is" (or "there are") refers to something existing and is not conjugated in progressive tenses.
2 has to: The speaker thinks "There has to be something wrong with [Bruno]": the speaker thinks that his large number of past Special Assistants means that he must have (logically) a character defect. "Have to" and "must" generally share the same meaning. Another example: "Surely there has to be a coffee shop somewhere near here!".
2 would: We can't use the conditional "would be" in this sentence without specifying a condition. For example: "If this park were converted into apartments, there would be no more green spaces in the local area".
2 must to: We cannot use a full infinitive (with "to") after a modal verb like "must". The speaker could say, however, "There must be something wrong with him".
3 would: "This would be" is, in this sentence, the "future in the past tense". The speaker is saying that after getting the job, they later discovered that it was the best job in their life. A similar example: "I believed that Jean was telling me the truth. I would soon discover that I was wrong".
3 can: We use the phrase "there can be" in present-tense sentences, not in the past tense. For example: "There can be no more than 100 people in the venue at any one time" (It is possible for a maximum of 100 people to be present in the venue simultaneously).
3 is: We never use the conjugated verb "is" immediately before the infinitive verb "be" (or "to be"). If talking in the present tense, we can say, for example: "This is the best job I have ever had!".
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