Sentences with the construction there is are. The rule for using the turnover there is (there are). Usage with modal verbs

Many people, knowing the basics of the English language, can always get confused in the use of the verbal phrase there is / there are, or even neglect it. Of course, this limits our combinatorics of constructing new sentences, and it gives a chance to misunderstand the interlocutor. So let's try to abstract and learn this topic.

turnover there is / there are it is common to use to determine the location of objects or if the sentence does not use a verb.

The structure of the sentence is as follows: there is / are + noun + circumstance of place.

There is is only used for singular nouns:

• There is a cat in the garden - the cat (is) in the garden;
• There is a beach down here - Here (there is) a beach;
• There is a new club near the college - There is a new club near the college;

Also, most often you can hear the abbreviated form there is - there's:

• There's an apple on the table - an apple (lies) on the table;
• There's a fridge in the kitchen - in the kitchen (there is) a refrigerator;
• There’s a pen on the school desk - there is a pen on the desk;

The indefinite article a/an can be replaced by the numerator one:

• There is one chair in my room - in my room (there is) one stool;

There are is used for plural nouns:

• There are twenty students in the class - there are twenty students in the class;
• There are four girls and two boys in her family - in her family (there are) 4 girls and 2 boys;
• There are three hospitals in town - there are three hospitals in the city;

Using there at the beginning of a sentence has no effect on using there at the end of that sentence:

• There are big gray clouds over there - there (are) big gray clouds;

For clarity, the sentence there is/are is best translated from the circumstance of place.

The affirmative sentence there is/are can be rebuilt into an interrogative one. To do this, just swap there and is / are:

• Is there a train to Moscow? – Is there a train to Moscow?
• Is there a good restaurant in the street? – Is there a good restaurant on this face?
• Are there a lot of children in the pool? – Are there many children in the pool?
• Are there thirty or thirty one days this month? Is there thirty or thirty-one days in this month?

And how to give a short answer to a similar question:

• Is there money in your pocket? - Yes, there is - No, there isn't
• Are there a lot of policemen in the city? – Yes, there are – No, there aren’t

Affirmative sentences with the turn there is / are can also be converted into negative sentences by adding a negative particle not:

• There is not a knife in your bag - there is no knife in your bag;
• There isn't a battery in the phone - there is no battery in this phone;
• There are not a instruments in my hangar - there is no instrument in my hangar;
• There aren't handsome guys in the hotel - there are no handsome guys in this hotel;

Or you can add the negative word no (no):

• There is no sugar in this cup of coffee - there is no sugar in this cup of coffee;
• There are no wheels in that car - there are no wheels in that car;

Thus, once again it is worth noting the use turnover there is / there are. There is is used only with singular nouns, respectively, there are with plural nouns. Both turnovers serve to explain, define or state the location of the object. The order of constructing a turnover is first there is / are, then a noun and at the end a circumstance. The turn there is / are can take a negative and interrogative form. And it is desirable to translate sentences from there is / are from the circumstance of the place.

Perhaps you want to clarify something on this topic. Leave a comment below with a question

This grammar theme will teach you how to work with popular English construction there is / there are. Or, in other words, how to say: there is something here, something is not there.

At the airport (there are) a lot of rules.– There are a lot of rules at the airport.

There is no stadium in the town.– There isn’t a stadium in the town.

We use this construction when the sentence refers to the fact that something is / not is located somewhere. In other words, something exists somewhere or something does not exist somewhere. To do this, in English we use the there is / there are construction.

The word there in this construction will not change under any circumstances. According to the law of the genre, the verb to be will change in number and in tenses, we will talk below.

Here you need to be careful and not confuse the adverb there (there) and part of the construction there is / are. The difference will be visible in context and translation: there , which is included in there is / are, will not even be translated, it's just "is". For example:

There is only one restaurant there. - There (there is) only one restaurant.

The second part of this construction is the verb we already know "be"– to be in the form is and are (is for singular, are for plural).

There is a cake in the fridge. - There is a cake in the fridge.

There's a hole in my pocket. - There is a hole in my pocket.

In the last sentence, we abbreviated there is to there's, which is quite typical for spoken English.

There are two men in the room. - There are two men in the room.

There're many mistakes in your test, you must do it over. - There are a lot of errors in your test, you should redo it.(there are = there're)

Often the student asks the question: why can't I just say through the verb to be? For example:

Many mistakes are in your test.

Everything is very simple: such a sentence is grammatically correct, but the native speaker will not say this, it will sound less natural to his ear. In addition, the design there is / are very popular among speakers, so you definitely should not avoid it.

Interestingly, proposals there is / are we translate from the end, the construction itself may not be translated at all, or it may be translated with the word “is”.

There are many Italian foodstuffs in this shop. - This store has a lot of Italian products.

There are seven days in a week. - There are (are) seven days in a week.

Negation

It is a pleasure to work with this construction: to construct a negation, we

add a particle not or the word no after is / are

There is not an umbrella in the car. - There is no umbrella in the car.

There isn't any cold water in the fridge. - There is no cold water in the refrigerator.

There is no lamp in my son's room. - There is no lamp in my son's room.

You noticed that there is not must be followed by the article a or an ; after there is no, we do not put either the article or any.

There are not two but three kids in their family. - In their family, not two, but three children.

There are n't problems with this child. - There is no problem with this child.

There are no guests at the party. - There are no guests at the party.

Question

To build a question, you just need to rearrange the words in the construction itself there is / are.

Is there a scarf in the wardrobe? - Is there a scarf in the closet?

Is there a dog in the car? - Is there a dog in the car?

What is there on the table? - What (is) on the table?

Are there letters for me? - Are there letters for me?

Are there students in the lecture hall? - Are there students in the audience?

How many days are there in February? - How many days are in February?

Very often a question arises in sentences where we need to list objects in both the singular and the plural. What to do in these cases?
The choice of is or are will depend on the first noun immediately after the construction there is / are.

There is one bathroom and two bedrooms in my flat. - My apartment has two bedrooms and one bathroom.

As "bathroom" in the singular comes the first, we chose there is.

There are 200 (two hundred) passengers and one air steward on the plane. - The plane has one flight attendant and 200 passengers.

In this offer "passengers" come first in the plural, so we chose there are .

You can answer shortly:

Are there dogs in the pet shop? - No, there aren't. - Does the pet store have dogs? - Not.

Is there a line / queue? – Yes, there is. - Is there a queue? Yes, I have.

Countable and uncountable nouns

First, remember that there are such necessary concepts in English as a countable noun and uncountable nouns. A countable noun can be counted piece by piece: book-books, raccoon-raccoons, room-rooms. Accordingly, an uncountable noun cannot be counted piece by piece, examples of such words: sugar, flour, sand, water

There is only works with singular countable nouns, or only with uncountable nouns.

There is a store-room in the flat. - The apartment has a storage room.(an example with a countable noun in the singular).

There is no sugar in my tea. - There is no sugar in my tea(an example with an uncountable noun).

That is, we do not say: There are no sugar in my tea.

Accordingly, there are only works with the plural of countable nouns (well, uncountable nouns simply do not exist in the plural).

There are many rules in the English language. - There are many rules in the English language.(rule-rules, plural countable noun)

There are no lipsticks in her Purse. - There are no lipsticks in her purse.(lipstick-lipsticks, plural countable noun)

A lot of design

The a lot of construction works a lot with both countable and uncountable nouns, but there is a subtlety when used with there is / are .

There is a lot of salt in my soup. - There is a lot of salt in my soup.

Even though a lot of is a lot, we do not put there are here because "salt" uncountable noun.

There are a lot of important documents in his safe. - There are many important documents in his safe.

We use there are because " documents" is a countable noun and plural.

Some / any

An important part of this topic is the indefinite pronouns some and any . These words denote a quantity (inexact quantity).

Some is used in affirmative sentences.

Any is used in negative and interrogative sentences.

There is some bread in a bread bin. - There is some bread in the breadbasket.
Is there any bread in a bread bin? - Is there any bread in the bread box?
There isn't any bread in a bread bin. - There is (no) bread in the breadbasket.

There are some letters at the post office. - There are several letters in the mail.
Are there any letters at the post office? - Are there any letters in the mail?
There aren't any letters at the post office. - There are no letters in the mail.

• Some and any work with both countable and uncountable nouns.

Sometimes we may encounter small subtleties of translation:

• Some+ uncountable noun = "a little" or depending on the context.

  There is some sand in your shoes. - There is some sand in your shoes.

• Some+ countable noun in plural number = "several"

  There are some eggs in the fridge. - There are several eggs in the refrigerator.

• Some+ countable noun in unit. num = "some"

  There is some guy in your office. - There's a guy in your office.

• Any in a negative sentence = "none, none, none"

  There aren't any letters for you. - There are no letters for you.

• Any in an interrogative sentence = "any, any, any / any"

  Is there any butter at home? - Is there (any) butter at home?
  Are there any dresses in this shop? - Does this store have any dresses?

As you noticed, we put the translation of the words any and some in brackets, that is, in the Russian version, these words are not mandatory. In the English version they are required.

And the last moment: do not need to use some / any if you have a specific item in the singular and it is countable. In this case, you need the article a / an:

There isn't a bike near the house. - There is no bicycle near the house. That is, a specific bike.

If the question arose: why does the article not go with a specific subject if the subject is specific? The answer is simple: after there is always only the articles a / an go.

There is a big window in my room. - There is a big window in my room.

Use at other times

Of course, we do not only say in the present tense: there are a lot of people there, no problem, etc. In the past, future tense, we also say: there were no problems, there were many people, there will be many questions. If you are already familiar with the topic of modal verbs and tenses: Past Simple, Future Simple, Present Perfect and Past Perfect, then there will be no questions ☺

Since in the structure there is / are we have a verb (to be in the form is and are) it is logical that it can change in tenses if we need it. Recall that the form there is / there are refers to the simple present tense (Present Simple).

If you know how to be works in principle at different times, then you will not have problems. And we remind:

Modal verbs and there is / are

Modal verbs also fit perfectly into the sentence structure with there + be, all the rules are the same, you just need to understand modal verbs and remember that after modal we do not change to be , but leave it in its original form:

There must be some explanation for his behavior. - There must be an explanation for his behavior.

There should be some law against people like you. - There must be some law against people like you.

There may be a dangerous turn of events. - Events may take a dangerous turn.

Hello dear students and seekers!

Today we’ll talk about the fact that there is bread in the bread box, and there is still some pasta in the tube. Do not be surprised! This is directly related to our grammatical theme "There is / There are". After all, we often have to look for things and ask our relatives where everything is, or in turn report to others where their lost umbrella or watch is.

This simple construction and the rule of its use will help us in this. It is used when we talk about something for the first time, that it exists. Let's analyze:

There is some toothpaste in the tube. There is a book on the table. (there is used for the singular).

There are five slices of bread in the bread bin. There are a lot of pens in my bag. (there are- for plural).

Such offers are often translated into Russian from the end, i.e. circumstances (first we say "where", and then "what"). This often has to be explained to children, since the habit of Russian thinking is very disturbing here.

Back to our suggestions:

There is some paste in the tube. There is a book on the table.

There are five slices of bread in the breadbasket. There are a lot of pens in my bag.

Word there in this design is formal(i.e. according to the rules it should be, but it is not translated). The design itself corresponds in the Russian version to such words as to be, to be, to be etc., and may not be translated at all.. When translating, you need to look at the context, choose what sounds right to the Russian ear.

Let's say

There is her hand lotion on the bedside table.

In this case, we can easily say that on the nightstand "lies" or "costs" hand cream, although in reality there are no such words in the English version.

Additionally

In sentences with there is / are, there is not necessarily an indication of the place or time at the end, i.e. such a proposal simply says about the presence of an object or phenomenon(this means, it doesn’t matter to us where, but the very fact of the existence of something is important). For example:

I'm sorry I'm late. There was a lot of traffic.- Sorry, I'm late. The movement was difficult (literally: there was a lot of movement).

Thereisacoldwind.- (Cold wind is blowing.

negative form is formed in the standard way for the verb to be, i.e. just added not . Shall we practice?

There isn't (= isn't) any toothpaste in the tube.

Note: in this sentence some changed to any. Who knows the rule, well done. Who does not know, then you can read about him.

Well, with the rest of the proposals, I think you can handle it yourself!

Besides, instead of not possible use no . However, after no the article or any is not required, no placed before a noun:

There is no life on the planet.

Interrogative form formed by putting the verb in first place:

Is there a book on the table? Is there any toothpaste in the tube?

Are there five slices of bread in the bread bin? Are there many pens in my bag?

Note : mention should be made of the use of the construction for uncountable nouns, which often causes difficulties. For - the construction is used in the singular, i.e. we just mean a certain amount of something that we cannot count (keep in mind the word "quantity" - it's just in the singular), for example:

There is some water in the bottle.

There was/There were

There was / There were- this is still the same construction, only in the simple past tense (Past Simple).

I hope the examples in the table have clearly explained what's what. But if suddenly you still have questions, be sure to ask them in the comments - they will not remain unanswered!

The more you begin to appreciate and love your usual native Russian language. It seems to us that in Russian there are no confusing tenses, no regular/irregular verbs, no articles. Everything is simple and clear. But this, of course, is not the case. And the Russian language has enough of its complex rules and confusing definitions. In this article, we will look at the slightly confusing there is/are construction, which is rather unusual because it appears at the beginning of a sentence and is usually not translated in any way.

How and when to use there is/there are?

We use this construction when we need to say about the location any subject. That is, about what something (someone) somewhere located. We must immediately remember that we always put it at the beginning suggestions. I think you have already guessed that we use there is when we are talking about one subject, and there are about several.

Literally, we translate the first sentence as follows: "There is (is) book on the shelf. Of course, in Russian it sounds ugly, and in real life no one speaks like that. But at the first stage it is important to understand meaning what we say .

This literal translation will help you speak correctly and, most importantly, understand the logic of this construction. But when you say this turnover many times and you don’t have to translate it verbatim, then you can move on to a beautiful literary translation: There are two books on the shelf.

Order of words in a sentence
with there is/are

Don't forget to put "there is/there are" at the beginning when you talk about the location of something. This will help your interlocutor to understand from the very beginning that it is about finding something somewhere. In such a sentence, each word is in its specific place. Let's look at the word order in a sentence.

Negative form c there is/are

The negative form is formed by adding a particle not. It is used when you want to say that something no / was not / will not be anywhere. We can cut there is not = there isn't and there are not = there aren't.

Also with the construction there is / there are the word is often used no (No). But abbreviations are not allowed in such phrases, because not is a particle that can be abbreviated, and no is already a word that cannot be abbreviated.

How to ask questions with there is/are?

The construction of questions with this construction is subject to the standard rules of the English language. To ask a question, it is enough to move the words is / are to the beginning of the sentence, before the word there. Consider an example of how to make an interrogative sentence from an affirmative sentence.

Statement

Question

Positive response will look like this.

At no answer we add the not particle.

Let's look at one more example to confirm.

How to ask questions using question words?

With the turns there is / there are, you can also build sentences using question words. Here are some of them:

• what - what
• which - which,
• why - why,
• how long - how long,
• when - when.

In such questions, we put these words in the first place, and then the sentence is built as in a simple question.

There is/are in past and future tenses

If you want to say about something that was or will be somewhere, then for this it is enough to change word form is/are (verb be). How this verb changes, we will consider in great detail in the next article. For now, just remember that to change the time using the there is / are construction, you need to change the verb.

Since the phrase there is/ there are is mainly used to say where is this or that object, then you can easily practice using this construction. Take a look around. What do you see? Where are the things you are used to? So there is…

There are a lot of grammatical constructions and turns in English that have no analogues in Russian. But do not despair. The main thing is to understand the essence of such grammatical phenomena, understand them, memorize them, and the language will come to you easily and simply. One of the turns that will be discussed today is the design There is/are- its plural. You will learn why it is needed, how and where to use it.

What is "There is" for?

There is is translated as "there is, there is, is." With it, you can easily and quickly list what you want: items in the room, furniture in the house, trees and flowers in the garden, food on the table, etc.

If the objects we are talking about are in the singular, then after there we use is. For example:

• There is a lamp on my writing table. There is a lamp on my desk.

If the objects we mention are in the plural, then together with there we use are:

• There are some books on my bookshelf. There are several books on my bookshelf.

This turnover, as a rule, is located at the beginning of the sentence. But this is not necessary, it can be in the middle of a phrase:

• In the classroom there is a map of Great Britain. There is a map of Great Britain in the classroom.

We use the design easily and simply!

So, we already know the rule, now let's watch this turnover in action. Let's see how this turnover behaves in small descriptions.

Imagine that you need to talk about your room in English. With our design, this can be done approximately like this:

My room is not very big, but it is light and very cozy. There is a big window in my room. There is a bed in my room. There is a table and a chair. In the corner there is a bookshelf with some books. I like my room very much. My room is not big, but it is bright and very comfortable. There is a big window in my room. There is a bed. There is a table and a chair. In the corner is a bookshelf with several books. I like my room.

Of course, this description can be diluted with colors and sizes of objects, their exact location. But the grammatical construction will help you name and list objects, the furnishings of your room. You just need to remember in what number you use nouns.

Let's move on to another description. Suppose you need to tell about your city, what it is like, what it has, what institutions, etc.

My town is very beautiful. There are a lot of buildings in my town. In the Main Street there is a school, a post-office, a bank. On our square there is a monument. Near the square there is a park. There is a museum in my town. We love our town very much. - My town is very beautiful. There are many buildings in my city. There is a school, post office and bank on the main street. There is a monument in our square. There is a park near the square. There is also a museum in my city. We love our city very much.

As you noticed, there is no analogue of such a construction in Russian, but it does not present any difficulty. Everything is quite simple.

Let's practice ourselves!

So, you have already got acquainted with the new English turnover, now let's do the exercises. We offer you several tasks in which this grammatical phrase is present. These exercises will help you consolidate the acquired knowledge and make friends with this design more firmly.

Use the construct in the singular or plural:

There _____ some milk in the bottle. There _____ an orange in the fridge. There _____ five chicks and a hen in the yard. There _____ a big window to the right of the door. There ______ a blue arm-chair at the door. _____ there three cups and three saucers on the coffee-table? ____ there a carpet on the wall? There _____ two cups of coffee on the table.

Insert There is / There are:

Some fruits and vegetables in the fridge

A cake on the plate

Some jam in the fridge

Some spices in the cupboard

Some juice in the glass

Two cups of coffee on the coffee-table.

Translate the sentences into English:

• There is salt on the table
• There are some fruits in the fridge
• There are many flowers in our garden
• Is there a TV in the living room
• There is carpet in the bedroom on the floor
• There are curtains on the window.

We hope that these exercises will help you in learning this design. We wish you good luck and see you soon!