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There Is & There Are

There Is & There Are

Fiche | Anglais
Secondaire
1-2
Table des matières
Rules

The phrases there is/was and there are/were are used to say that something exists or existed.

In basic sentences, the subject comes before the verb, but in a sentence that begins with There is or There are, the subject (a singular or plural noun) comes after.

For example: 

If you want to say that a cow in the field exists, use there is:

There is a cow in the field.

To determine whether to use there is or there are, you must check the noun following it. 
You must also consider the verb tense.

  Singular
countable nouns/uncountable nouns		 Plural
countable nouns
Simple Present there is there are
Simple Past there was there were

Affirmative Form

With Singular Countable and Uncountable Nouns

Points to remember when forming sentences using there is/was

  1. Place there is/was in front of a singular countable noun or an uncountable noun.

  2. Place the noun after there is/was.

Using “there is” for singular countable nouns or uncountable nouns

With Plural Nouns

Points to remember when forming sentences using there are/were

  1. Place there are/were in front of the plural countable nouns.

  2. Place the noun after there are/were.

Using “there are” for uncountable nouns
Examples

Simple Present

Singular
countable		 Singular
uncountable		 Plural
countable
There is a mosquito in the tent.

Mosquito in a tent
 There is milk in the fridge.

Milk in a fridge
 There are insects everywhere.

Insects everywhere
There is a car in the driveway.

Car in a driveway
 There is sand on the beach.

Sandy beach
 There are players on the ice.

Hockey players on the ice

Simple Past

Singular 
countable		 Singular
uncountable		 Plural
countable
There was a job opening yesterday, but we hired someone this morning.

Job opening
 There was water in the glass before I spilled it everywhere.

Water in glass
 There were dinosaurs on Earth before their mass extinction.

Dinosaurs roaming around
There was a dog barking last night.

A dog barking
 There was soup for lunch yesterday.

A bowl of soup
 There were electric cars in 1895.

An old electric car

There is & There are—Affirmative Form Exercise

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Negative Form

With Countable Nouns

Point to remember when forming negative sentences with there is/are or there was/were

  1. Place the function word not after there is/are or there was/were.

Negative sentences with “there is/are”
Examples
  Singular Countable Plural Countable
Simple Present There is not a car in the driveway. There are not many insects in the house.
There isn’t* a cow in the field. There aren’t* any players on the ice.
Simple Past There was not a tree in the backyard. There were not many movies to watch online in 2005.
There wasn’t* a bird in this forest. There weren’t* many possibilities. 

*Contractions are often used in the negative.

With Uncountable Nouns

Points to remember when forming negative sentences with there is/was that are followed by an uncountable noun

  1. Place the function word not after there is/was.

  2. Place the determiner any before the uncountable noun.

Negative sentences with “there is/was”
Examples
  Uncountable
Simple Present There is not any juice left.
There isn’t* any snow falling.
Simple Past There was not any wind blowing.
There wasn’t* any water in the pool.

*Contractions are often used in the negative.

There is & There are—Negative Form Exercise

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For Advanced Users — Specific Situations

When Using — a lot of

When Using — a number of

When Using — a Series of Objects

Question Form

Yes/No Questions with Singular Nouns

Points to remember when forming yes/no questions with singular countable nouns

  1. Place the auxiliary verb to be (is/was*) before there for yes/no questions.

  2. Place the singular countable noun after there.

*Use is in the simple present and was in the simple past.

Question with “there is” and “there was”
Examples
  Singular Countable Nouns
Simple Present Is there a nurse available?
Is there a doctor in the room?
Simple Past Was there a dog in space?
Was there a scientist in the laboratory?

Yes/No Questions With Plural or Uncountable Nouns

Points to remember when forming yes/no questions with plural countable nouns or uncountable nouns

  1. Place the auxiliary verb to be (is/was/are/were*) before there for yes/no questions.

  2. Place the pronoun any after there.

  3. Place the plural countable noun or uncountable noun after any.

*Use is/are in the simple present and was/were in the simple past.

Question with “there is/was” and “there are/were”
Examples
  Plural Countable Nouns Uncountable Nouns
Simple Present Are there any penguins in Arctica? Is there any milk left at the grocery store?
Are there any sandwiches in the fridge? Is there any sand on that beach?
Simple Past Were there any mosquitos on the cruise? Was there any trouble on the flight?
Were there any protesters downtown yesterday? Was there any ice cream in the freezer?

Information Questions

Points to remember when forming information questions

  1. Place the question word first.

  2. Place the auxiliary verb to be (is/are/was/were*) before there.

  3. Place the object after there.

*Use is/are in the simple present and was/were in the simple past.

Information question with “there is” and “there are”
Examples
Question word to be there object
Who is there today?
What was there to do in Toronto last weekend?
Where are there wild horses?
Why  were there  demonstrations in Ottawa?

Information Questions with How Many

Specific Questions with how many

  1. Place the question word first.

  2. Place the plural noun after how many.

  3. Place the auxiliary verb to be (is/are/was/were) before there.

  4. Place the object after there.

Specific question with “how many”

 

 

Examples
How many How many pigs are there on the farm?
How many casualties were there in WWII?

There is & There are—Question Form Exercise

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Using There with Auxiliary Verbs

It is possible to form complete sentences combining there with auxiliary verbs.

Affirmative Form with Auxiliary Verbs

Points to remember when forming affirmative sentences with auxiliary verbs

  1. Place the auxiliary verb after there.

  2. Place be/been*  after the auxiliary verb.

  3. Place the singular/plural countable noun or uncountable noun after be/been.

*Use been with perfect tenses.

Using “there” with auxiliary verbs
Examples
  Singular Countable Uncountable Plural Countable
Simple Future There will be a new electric car. There is going to be internet access everywhere soon. There will be new viruses in the future.
Present Perfect There has been a scientific breakthrough this morning. There has been trouble all day long. There have been many casualties today.
  Singular Countable Uncountable Plural Countable
Modals There could be new laws. There might be trouble ahead. There would be kiwis in Australia if they could fly from New Zealand.
The architect says there can be 2 or 3 bathrooms in the new house. There could be oil in the engine. There should be 7 players on the field.

There is & There are—Question Form Exercise

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Negative Form with Auxiliary Verbs

Points to remember when forming negative sentences with auxiliary verbs

  1. Place the auxiliary verb after there.

  2. Place the function word not after the auxiliary verb.

  3. Place be/been after the auxiliary verb.

  4. Place the singular/plural countable noun or uncountable noun after be.

Using “there” with auxiliary verbs
Examples
  Singular Countable Uncountable Plural Countable
Simple Future There will not be a new version of Windows in the years to come. There won't* be any meat for supper. There will not be any flying cars soon.
Present Perfect There has not been one injured person since the attack. There hasn’t* been any reported damage to the building. There have not been any reports after 22:00.
  Singular Countable Uncountable Plural Countable
Modals There could not be anyone in the area. There might not be any trouble ahead. There wouldn’t* be any problem if everyone respected the rules.
There can’t* be more than 3 bedrooms in this new house. There would not be water in the basement if it weren’t for the storm outside. There shouldn’t* be more than 5 players on the ice.

*Contractions are often used in the negative.

Yes/No Questions with Auxiliary Verbs

Points to remember when forming yes/no questions with auxiliary verbs

  1. Place the auxiliary verb before there for yes/no questions.

  2. Place be/been after the auxiliary verb.

  3. Place the singular/plural countable noun or uncountable noun after be/been.

Question with “there is” and “there are”
Examples
  Singular Countable Uncountable Plural Countable
Simple Future Will there be a new version of Windows soon? Will there be any meat for supper? Will there be any flying cars soon?
Present Perfect Has there been a casualty in the attack? Has there been any reported damage to the building? Have there been any reports after 22:00?
  Singular Countable Uncountable Plural Countable
Modals Should there be anyone in the area? Could there be any trouble ahead? Would there be problems if people respected the rules?
Can there be more than 3 bedrooms in this new house? Would there be water in the basement if it hadn’t been for the storm? Should there be more than 5 players on the ice?

Information Questions with Auxiliary Verbs

Points to remember when forming information questions with auxiliary verbs

  1. Place the question word first.

  2. Place the auxiliary verb before there.

  3. Place be/been after there.

  4. Place the object after be/been.

Information question with “there is” and “there are”
Example
Question word auxiliary verb there be/been object
When should there be a new government?
What would there be if there was no universe?
Where might there be microclimates?
Why have there been protesters?

There is & There are—Question Form Exercise

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See Also