A1 · Beginner

There is and there are: saying that something exists

Use there is for one thing and there are for more than one. You use there to say that something exists, is in a place, or happens. The verb agrees with the noun that comes after it.

Saying that something exists

Use there is to say that something exists or is in a place. Use there is for singular nouns and there are for plural nouns.

Affirmative

thereis/arenounplace

There is a bench in the garden.
There is a library above the theatre.
There are two cafés inside the station.

You can say there's instead of there is. We often say this when we speak. The short form there's stands for there is. Some speakers also use it before a plural noun, see below.

There's a bakery behind the hospital.

When you speak informally and make a list, you often use there is or there's, even if the list has more than one thing.

There's a bakery, a bank and a bus stop on my road.

Negative

Use there isn't (or there's not) for singular nouns. Use there aren't for plural nouns. Use a with a singular countable noun and any with plural or uncountable nouns in these negatives.

	singular	plural
Negative	There isn't a bank near the school.	There aren't any shops near the school.
Uncountable	There isn't any milk.	-

To make the negative stronger, use there is no or there are no.

There's no milk.
There are no buses on Sundays.

Questions and short answers

Say Is there for singular and uncountable nouns. Say Are there for plural nouns.

Is there a bank near here?
Is there any juice in the fridge?
Are there any seats on the bus?

In short answers, use there is or there are in full. Do not use the short form there's in a positive short answer.

Question	Short answer
Is there a bank near here?	Yes, there is. / No, there isn't.
Are there any seats on the bus?	Yes, there are. / No, there aren't.

Other tenses

You can use there in many other tenses. Change the verb be.

There was a power cut last night.
There were a lot of tourists in the old town yesterday.
There will be a lot of traffic on the roads tomorrow.

What there can talk about

In these sentences there is a dummy subject: it fills the place of the subject but does not name a thing. This page shows three main uses.

Use	Example
where or when something is	There's a documentary on at eight. / There'll be a rehearsal on Tuesday.
a number or an amount	There is enough fuel for the journey. / There were sixteen children in the choir.
something that exists or happens	There's a problem with the lock. / There was a fire in the warehouse.

Plural nouns after there's

In speaking and some informal writing, people use there's even before a plural. This could be considered incorrect in formal writing or in an examination.

There's two spare chairs in the kitchen. Informal speech. In an exam, write There are two spare chairs in the kitchen.

Watch out

✗Is a parcel at the door?

✓Is there a parcel at the door?

Use there to ask whether a parcel is present. Use it to identify or describe a particular parcel: "It's at the door" can refer to a parcel already mentioned or clear from the situation.

✗There are a hole in my pocket.

✓There is a hole in my pocket.

A singular noun after there takes is.

✗Are there a café near here?

✓Is there a café near here?

Use Is there with a singular noun.

✗Is there any milk? Yes, there's.

✓Is there any milk? Yes, there is.

In a positive short answer, use there is in full.

What comes next

For it as a dummy subject, see Dummy it and preparatory it: it's raining, it's nice to meet you, I find it strange that. For some and any, see Some and any: someone, anything, somewhere and related forms. For agreement in general, see Subject-verb agreement: finding the subject and choosing the verb.

Practice

Eight questions. Choose one answer for each.