There Is and There AreA1

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There is and there are say that something exists or is in a place, with a / some / any / numbers. There is goes with singular and uncountable nouns, there are with plural nouns: There is a park. There are two beds.

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CheatsheetA1

Form	Singular	Plural	Uncountable
Affirmative	There is a park.	There are two parks.	There is some milk.
Short form	There's a park.	—	There's some milk.
Negative	There isn't a park.	There aren't any parks.	There isn't any milk.
Question	Is there a park?	Are there any parks?	Is there any milk?
How many, how much	—	How many parks are there?	How much milk is there?
Short answer	Yes, there is. / No, there isn't.	Yes, there are. / No, there aren't.	Yes, there is. / No, there isn't.

OverviewA1

there is the subject. The verb be agrees with the noun that follows.

Form: affirmativeA1

Noun	Form	Example
singular countable	there is / there's + a / an	There's a cat in the garden.
plural	there are + some / number	There are three chairs.
uncountable	there is + some	There is some milk.

Speech and messages use the short form there's. there are has no short form.
A list takes the verb of the first noun: There is a bed and two chairs.

Form: negativeA1

Noun	Form	Example
singular countable	there isn't + a / an	There isn't a bank here.
plural	there aren't + any	There aren't any shops.
uncountable	there isn't + any	There isn't any water.

Form: questionsA1

Form	Example
Is there + a / any	Is there a bank near here?
Are there + any	Are there any shops?
How many … are there?	How many people are there?
How much … is there?	How much milk is there?
What is there …?	What's there in the fridge?

A question puts be before there: There is → Is there…?
How many goes with plural nouns, how much with uncountable nouns.
A how many / how much question ends with there: How many people are there?

Form: short answersA1

Question	Yes	No
Is there a bank here?	Yes, there is.	No, there isn't.
Are there any shops?	Yes, there are.	No, there aren't.

A positive short answer has the full form: Yes, there is.

UseA1

Use	Example
Say that something exists	There is a cinema in my town.
Say what is in a place	There are two beds in the room.
Describe a room or a town	There is a big park near the station.
Ask about places and things	Is there a toilet here?

A place phrase follows, or opens, the sentence: There is a cat on the sofa.
For place words see Place and Movement.

With a, some, any and numbersA1

Word	Rule	Example
a / an	singular countable, + and ?	There's a bus stop.
some	plural or uncountable, +	There are some apples.
any	plural or uncountable, − and ?	Are there any apples?
number	plural, + − ?	There are four apples.

See Quantifiers: some, any, much, many and Countable and Uncountable Nouns.

Compare: there is and it isA1

Point	there is / are	it is
Job	introduces something new	talks about something known
Example	There is a dog in the garden.	It is a big dog.
Question	Is there a shop near here?	Is it open?

See To be.

Typical errorsA1

✗	✓	Rule
There is two cats.	There are two cats.	plural noun → there are
There are a cat.	There is a cat.	singular noun → there is
There isn't some milk.	There isn't any milk.	negatives take any