Use "there is" for one item. (singular nouns) Use "there is" for non-count items. (non-count nouns) Use "there are" for many items. (plural nouns)
There is/There are
Type There is or There are in the boxes below.
1. ______ five pens in the box.
There are
2. ______ a car in the garage.
There is
3. ______ some books on the table.
There are
4. ______ a telephone in the bedroom.
There is
5. ______ two tables in the kitchen.
There are
6. ______ many birds in that tree.
There are
7. ______ a magazine on the floor.
There is
8. ______ four chairs in the room.
There are
9. ______ seven days in a week.
There are
10. ______ a drink in the fridge.
There is
There ______ a bed.
is
There ______ a few pictures.
are
There ______ two chairs.
are
There ______ a small table.
is
1. There ______ many animals in the zoo.
are
is / are
2. There ______ a snake in the window.
is
is / are
3. There ______ a zebra in the grass.
is
is / are
4. There ______ lions in the zoo, too.
are
is / are
5. There ______ many baby lions near their parents.
are
is / are
6. There ______ a bird next to the tree.
is
is / are
7. There ______ many monkeys in the trees.
are
is / are
8. There ______ an elephant in the zoo.
are
is / are
9. There ______ some water in the lake near the elephants.
is
is / are
10. There ______ birds in the zoo.
are
is / are
11. There ______ many people visiting the animals today.
are
is / are
12. There ______ many children, too.
are
is / are
13. There ______ a gorilla in the tree.
is
is / are
14. There ______ some grass under the tree.
is
is / are
15. There ______ bananas in the tree with the gorilla.
are
is / are
16. There ______ many birds near the gorilla.
are
is / are
17. There ______ a rock near the tree.
is
is / are
18. There ______ many sharks in the aquarium.
are
is / are
19. There ______ an eel in the aquarium, too.
is
is / are
20. There ______ lots of water for the fish.
is
is / are
21. There ______ many animals to see at the zoo.
are
is / are
1. There is / there are
"There" is a kind of pronoun used to show something you know exists.
Compare these two sentences:
- "A fly is in my soup."
- "There is a fly in my soup!"
The first sentence is factual and impersonal. The fly is the subject, and the soup is the object. In the second sentence the object is "a fly in my soup", so the subject is "There". "There" functions as a kind of dummy subject that represents a more personal perspective, rather than a factual statement.
Especially in spoken English we usually use the contraction "there's", rather than "there is".
Here are the forms of "there" in the Simple Present.
Statements
There's a tree in my garden.
There are books on the desk.
Negatives
There isn't a computer in my bedroom.
There aren't any cinemas here.
Questions
Is there a restaurant here?
Yes, there is. / No, there isn't
There is usually subject-verb agreement when using there is/there are. For example:
- There are ten students in my class.
Add there is or there are to the following sentences.
Example: There are many stars in the sky.
1. _______ a ______ in my soup.
(There is, There are)
2. _______ many parks in ___ ______.
(There is, There are)
3. _______ any tigers in Africa.
(There isn't, There aren't)
4. _______ lots of ______ in big cities.
(There is, There are)
5. _______ a ______ near here?
(Is there, Are there)
6. _______ life on Mars?
(Is there, Are there)
7. _______ a telephone I can use?
(Is there, Are there)
8. _______ a football game tomorrow.
(There is, There are)
9. _______ 8 students in my class.
(There is, There are)
10. _______ many people ______.
1. There is
2. There are
3. There aren't
4. There are
5. Is there
6. Is there
7. Is there
8. There is
9. There are
10. There aren't
There is/There are is a common phrase in English, used to indicate that something "exists" or is in a certain location. The main subject follows the verb when there is/are is used.
There is an apple on the table.
There are some apples on the table.
Other forms of "be" can also be used with there is/there are.
There will be a party at Bill's house on Saturday.
There were four witnesses at the crime scene.
There have been two robberies in the last five months.
Contractions are possible, but they are mostly used informally in speech.
There's a fly in my soup.
There're plenty of oranges left.
There'll be a lot of people in attendance.
There's is by far the most common contraction, and it is sometimes used inadvertently with plural subjects by native speakers.
There's ten people outside!
Common mistakes
Since the expression there is/are usually has no equivalent in other languages, students sometimes use have instead.
Have a lot of food on the table.
It has a lot of food on the table.
There have a lot of food on the table.
There is a lot of food on the table. (Incorrect)
(Incorrect)
(Incorrect)
(Correct)