There ia\are was\were

Singular

Plural

there is

there are

there was

there were

There is\are thERE WAS\WERE

There is \ are

We use there is and there are to say that something exists.

Positive Sentences

We use there is for singular and there are for plural .

• There is one table in the classroom.
• There are three chairs in the classroom.
• There is a spider in the bath.
• There are many people at the bus stop.

Contractions

The contraction of there is is there's .

• There's a good song on the radio.
• There's only one chocolate left in the box.

You cannot contract there are .

• There are nine cats on the roof.
• There are only five weeks until Christmas.

Negative Form

The negative is formed by putting not after is or are :

• There is not a horse in the field.
• There are not eight children in the school.
• There is not a tree in the garden.
• There are not two elephants in the zoo.

The Negative contractions are:

• There's not = There isn't
• There are not = There aren't

There Are with ANY

When we want to indicate that a zero quantity of something exists we use there aren't any.

• There aren't any people at the party.
• There aren't any trees in my street.

We also use this structure with uncountable nouns:

• There isn't any water in the swimming pool.
• There isn't any sugar in my coffee.

Questions

To form a question we place is / are in front of there .

Again we use any with plural questions or those which use uncountable nouns.

We also use there is / are in short answers.

• Is there a dog in the supermarket? - No, there isn't.
• Are there any dogs in the park? - Yes, there are.
• Is there a security guard in the shop? - Yes, there is.
• Are there any polar bears in Antarctica? - No, there aren't.
• Is there any ice-cream in the freezer? - Yes, there is.

How Many with Are There

If we want to find out the number of objects that exist we use How many in the following form:

How many + plural noun + are there (+ complement).

• How many dogs are there in the park?
• How many students are there in your class?
• How many countries are there in South America?
• How many Star Wars films are there ?
• Конец формы
•  

Singular

Plural

there is

there was

there are

there were

exercises

Complete the sentences with there is, there are

1. _________ a tree in our garden.

2. _________ a girl called Tabatah in my class.

3. _________ cows in the field.

4. _________ some very big ships in the harbor today.

5. _________ fish for dinner.

6. _________ a girl in my class who can walk on her hands.

7. _________ nothing to do when it rains.

8. _________ cat sitting on the bench.

9. In our park _________ some great things to play on.

10. In our park _________ a fountain where we can drink water.

Write questions and short answers

Example:

/ any Brazilian footballers in your favourite team?

Are there any Brazilian footballers in your favourite team? Yes there are.

1. / a skateboard park near here?

_____________________________

No, __________________________

2. / a Hollywood in Ireland?

_____________________________

Yes, __________________________

3. / any famous football teams in your town?

_____________________________

Yes, __________________________

4. / any interesting places near your house?

_____________________________

No, __________________________

5. / an English boy in your class?

_____________________________

No, __________________________

To Describe the picture using there is\there are

Quiz: There is or There are

1. ____ two.

There is \ There are

2. There ____ a lot of people coming.

is \ are

3. There ____ a lot of water on the carpet.

is \ are

4. There ____ a lot of noise coming from next door.

is \ are

5. There ____ a lot of traffic in the rush hour.

are \ is

6. There ____ only one possible answer.

is \ are

7. There ____ two possible answers.

is \ are

8. There ____ never enough time to finish it.

is \ are

9. There ____ some people to see you.

are \ is

10. There ____ nobody there.

is \ are

THERE WAS/THERE WERE, WAS/WERE

1. ________ a terrible earthquake in Japan in 2005.

There was

Was

There were

2. The cake _________on the table when I arrived home.

were

wasn't

there wasn't

3. _________ any apples left when I came back home yesterday.

There weren't

There wasn't

There were

4. How many children __________ at the party?

there were

was there

were there

5. _________ any water in the bottle? No, _________ any!

Was there / wasn't there

Was there / there wasn't

Were there / there weren't

Complete with WAS, WERE, THERE WAS, THERE WERE

in the affirmative, interrogative or negative.

a) Annie … at home when I phoned her. We were speaking for half an hour!

b) My sister … at school yesterday. She fell ill and she stayed at home.

c) Our teachers … angry because we didn't do the homework.

d)  … many students at the theatre play, just a few.

e)  … enough time to finish the exam. I couldn't do the last part!

f)  … many people at the party?

g)  … enough food for everyone?

h) I phoned Mary, but … anyone home.

i) We … at the party until midnight.

j) Alice … in my house yesterday afternoon. We … doing our homework together.

Complete with  there was or there were .

 … a bank near my house.

 … two kittens in the basket.

 … ten children in the park.

… a small shop between the bank and the supermarket.

 … many bottles of milk in the fridge.

… some pencils on the desk.

 … only one book on the table.

… an old man in the street.

 … a lot of noise in the classroom.

… a huge crocodile in the river.