GRAMMAR - THERE IS AND THERE ARE

Our students (6th level) are learning the uses of “There is” and “There are” in positive, negative and interrogative sentences. The picture (grammar) and the video can help them.

Remember:

We use There is/There are to say that something exists (or does not exist). The real subject usually comes after There is/There are.

AFFIRMATIVE SENTENCES: use "There is" for singular nouns and things you cannot count.

There is a ghost in this room.... 

•  There is an apple on the desk.
• There is some oil in the pavement.

Use "There are" for plural nouns; that is to say, we use there are with a plural subject.

• There are four windows in my room
• There are some windows in my room

NEGATIVE SENTENCES: to say the opposite, (the negative form of this structure), use isn't (is + not)    or    aren't (are + not). 

 There isn't a balcony.

 There isn’t an orange on the table

 There aren't any chairs in this room

INTERROGATIVE SENTENCES: as almost always happens in English, to make questions with this structure change the order of the sentence at the beginning.

• Is there a balcony in the flat?
• Are there any glasses in the cupboard?

SHORT ANSWERS:

• Is there…? Yes, there is / No there isn’t.
• Are there…? Yes, there are / No, there aren’t.

Regards, Christopher.