There is / there are

Verbs

1. There is and there are

THERE IS

There is a lot of rice on this plate.

THERE ARE

There are three peppers in my fridge.

2. Structure of there is and there are 

We use there is with singular countable nouns introduced by the articles a/an or the number one and with uncountable nouns. There are is used with plural countable nouns.

• Present simple (there is, there are)

  	Structure		Examples
  AFFIRMATIVE	Singular	There is	There is a chair in my room.
  	Plural	There are	There are a lot of birds in the sky.
  NEGATIVE	Singular	There isn't	There isn't a lift.
  	Plural	There aren't	There aren't dinosaurs in the world.
  INTERROGATIVE	Singular	Is there...?	Is there a place where I can leave my luggage? Yes, there is.
  	Plural	Are there...?	Are there any shops open today? No, there aren't.

• Past simple (there was, there were)

  	Structure		Examples
  AFFIRMATIVE	Singular	There was	There was a car accident the other day.
  	Plural	There were	There were a lot of people at the art exhibition.
  NEGATIVE	Singular	There wasn't	There wasn't any milk this morning.
  	Plural	There weren't	There weren't any computers three hundred years ago.
  INTERROGATIVE	Singular	Was there...?	Was there rubbish on the floor? Yes, there was.
  	Plural	Were there...?	Were there any shops near here? No, there weren't.

• Present perfect (there have been, there has been)

  	Structure		Examples
  AFFIRMATIVE	Singular	There has been	There has been a robbery at the supermarket.
  	Plural	There have been	There have been a lot of problems with the computers lately.
  NEGATIVE	Singular	There hasn't been	There hasn't been any snow for months.
  	Plural	There haven't been	There haven't been any good concerts lately.
  INTERROGATIVE	Singular	Has there been...?	Has there been a party on the beach tonight? Yes, there has.
  	Plural	Have there been...?	Have there been a lot of guests in this hotel? No, there haven't.

• Future simple will (there will be)

  Unlike the other verb tenses there will be is used with both countable and uncountable nouns without their form varying.

  	Structure	Examples
  AFFIRMATIVE	There will be	There will be a full moon tomorrow.
  NEGATIVE	There won't be	There won't be any problems.
  INTERROGATIVE	Will there be...?	Will there be yogurts in the fridge? Yes, there will.

3. How do we use there is and there are?

Both there is and there are, regardless of the verb tense, are used to:

• Indicate, deny or ask about the place where an element is located.
  
  

  There were some magazines on the table.

  

  Is there a supermarket near here?
• Expressing, denying or asking about the existence of something or someone.
  
  

  There have been 3 weddings in my family.

  

  There aren't any vegan restaurants in this town.

Remember!