Mastering There Is and There Are in English

There is and there are talk about the existence or non-existence of things, like "hay" in Spanish. For example:

• Hay algo de café en la cocina. = There is some coffee in the kitchen.
• Hay dos personas en el ascensor. = There are two people in the elevator.

If you wish, you can watch the video first. The examples are below.

In the video, I explain (briefly) the pronunciation of there’s and there’re, the two short forms. You need to practice a bit to get it right.

Now that we have that, here is the explanation of how to use there is and there are – and also example sentences.

There Is and There Are for Singular and Plural

We use there is for singular (and for uncountable things). For example:

• There is a dog in the park.
• There is a man at the door.
• There is a gas station down the street.
• There is a bus stop on the corner.
• There’s some wine in the bottle.

More about the use of some here.

Keep in mind that there’s is often used as a short form. There’re is also possible.

There are a couple of examples above. Here are more:

• I’m sorry. There’s nothing I can do.
• There’re a few bananas in that bag if you’re hungry.
• There’s a loaf of bread in the kitchen.
• There’re some sandwiches on the table.

Let's continue with negatives and questions...

How to Use There Is and There Are in Negatives and Questions

To form the negative, we use isn’t/aren’t, as always, depending on whether the noun is singular or plural.

• There isn’t any food in the fridge.
• There aren’t any cats in the living room.
• There isn’t a church near here.
• There aren’t any shops on this street.

The question is formed by placing the verb at the beginning of the sentence, and the short answer is given by repeating the same words in singular or plural, positive or negative, as appropriate.

• Q: Are there any shops on this street?
• A: Yes, there are.
• Q: Is there any food in the fridge?
• A: Yes, there is.
• Q: Is there a message for me?
• A: No, there isn’t.
• Q: Are there any people on the train?
• A: No, there aren’t.

We can also ask open questions with how much, how many, etc.

• Q: How many tomatoes are there in the fridge?
• A: There are 3 tomatoes in the fridge.
• Q: How many people are there on the bus?
• A: There are 10 people on the bus.