Unit 9 - There is / There are

There is / There are

Unit 9 - There is / There are

1.
Tyler, do you like London?

Sure, there are lots of restaurants and shops, and there's a lot of beautiful parks and museums as well.

I really want to live there.

Me too!
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2.
Hey, this is a great apartment.

Thanks. There's a lot of space, and there are some really nice neighbors as well.

Are there any stores near here?

Sure, there is a supermarket near here.

You have a great view!

Right. There's only one problem.

What's that?

It's really expensive!
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3.
Is there any pizza?

No we don't have any, sorry.

Well, are there any apples?

Er, yes, there's some in the kitchen. Help yourself.

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Key Vocabulary

there are restaurant shop there is beautiful park museum there live apartment

space near nearby view problem expensive pizza sorry kitchen help yourself

Unit 9 Grammar

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.
- There is ten students in my class.

Sometimes however we can use "there is" with compound subjects, for example:
There's a bank and a post office near my house.

Grammar Exercises

Exercise 1

Add there is or there are to the following sentences.

Example: There are many stars in the sky.

1. a fly in my soup.
(There is, There are)

2. many parks in New York.
(There is, There are)

3. any tigers in Africa.
(There isn't, There aren't)

4. lots of hotels in big cities.
(There is, There are)

5. a bank 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 my town.
(There isn't, There aren't)

Answers

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";

Exercise 2

Unscramble these sentences.

Example: are many stars the sky in there - There are many stars in the sky.

1. there's book a on desk my

2. are many trees there near house my.

3. there's some food the fridge in.

4. at 9.00 there's party a.

5. there are any cafés?

Answers

1. = "There's a book on my desk.";
2. = "There are many trees near my house.";
3. = "There's some food in the fridge.";
4. = "There's a party at 9.00.";
5. = "Are there any cafés?";