The phrase there be in English. The constructions there is and there are in English sentences

Turnover there + be ( there is / there are) is used when it is necessary to indicate the presence or absence of a person/object in a certain place. There is / There are translated into Russian as “is available”, “is”, “is located”, “exists”.

Scheme of construction of turnover

Sentences with the phrase there is/there are are constructed according to the following scheme:

There is (are) + subject + adverbial place

Sentences with the grammatical phrase there+be mainly indicate the presence/absence of a phenomenon or object in a certain place.

The turnover is used in the following cases

When they want to emphasize the presence or absence of an object, rather than the place in which it is located:

There are many games for children. - There are many games for children.

When they want to emphasize the location of an object in space

There is a student in the classroom. - There is a student in the classroom.

The word there is a theoretical element of this grammatical phrase, and it is not necessary to translate it into Russian. A revolution is considered an introductory particle. If in a sentence the adverbial adverbial place is expressed by the pronoun “there”, then the sentence is translated into English as follows:

There were many children there. - There were a lot of children there.

The phrase there is/there are is not used in answers to the question “where?”, since the answer concerns the location of the object, and not the object itself:

Where is my book? Where's my book?

It is in my bag. It's in my bag.

But if the sentence sounds like:

There is some book in my bag;

then we use turnover -

There is a book in my bag.

Modal verbs with there is / there are

The construction of the phrase also uses modal verbs together with the verb to be:

There must be many interesting books in the library. The library should have many interesting books.

There can be problems for him. He might have problems.

The phrase there + be translates Russian sentences that begin with the words “exist” or “exist” and words that do not indicate space:

There are different school subjects. There are different school subjects.

There are different books for children. There are different books for children.

Also can be used in circulation and other words instead of to be:

to happen,

to exist,

to remain

to come,

to appear

There comes our train. Here comes our train.

There exist different animals. There are different animals.

Construction of interrogative sentences with turnover

If there is a revolution, the verb to be comes first, and after there comes the subject:

Are there books in your bag? Are there books in your bag?

If the word any is used in such a question, then the answer to it will contain the words some (affirmative answer), not any or none (negative answer):

Are there any books in your bag? Are there any books in your bag?

Yes, there are some.

No, there are not any/none.

Negative sentences with a turn are made using the word no, the negative particle not or the pronoun any.

There is no food for you. There is no food for you.

There isn`t any money in his pocket. There is no money in his pocket.

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The phrase there is/there are is a speech construction that begins to be studied at the initial stage of learning English. If you need to talk about the location of an object or person, then you will need to use this phrase. The phrase there is/there are in English means “there is, is located.” But for a correct translation into Russian, you need to study some rules for handling this construction.

General concept

So, the phrase there is/there are is used quite often in English, since we constantly need to indicate the position of this or that object. And this phrase helps to do this in the best possible way. For example, you need to say that there are three doctors in a certain room.

With the help of turnover we get the following sentence: There are three doctors in the room. In this case, we draw your attention to the order of words in the sentence.

There is (thr is)

There are (thr are)

location

We see that the phrase begins with a phrase, then an object is indicated, and only at the end the place where this object (or person) is located is noted.

Why does the turnover look this way? What is the difference between thr is and thr are? The answer is simple. The first option is used to describe one object or person, and the second to describe two or more objects.

Thr is a dog on the bed. - A dog is sitting on the bed.
Thr are dogs on the bed. - There are dogs sitting on the bed.

There is/there are: translation into Russian

It is important to understand that the sentence in which this phrase is used cannot be translated literally. The correct way to do this is to start at the end of the sentence. This will make you sound beautiful in your native language.

Thr is a book on the table. - There is a book on the table.
Thr are dogs in the yard. - There are dogs running in the yard.

I would like to note that the phrase there is/there are has several translation options. It all depends on the specific object and situation. When translating, the main thing is to maintain correctness and plausibility, and not to deviate from the norms of the literary language.

Temporal features

The next thing that needs to be said when discussing the phrase there is/there are is the different forms of the verb “to be” when the phrase is used in different tenses. As you know, the strong verb to be has many forms, and in our case, a different form is used in each time period.

Present tense
Past tense
Future tense

All these forms can be part of this construction, since the phrase there is/there are can be used both in the present tense and in the past or future.

Thr is a kitten in the corner. - There is a kitten sitting in the corner.
Thr are students in the hall. - There are students in the hall.
Thr was a car near the shop. - There was a car near the store.
Thr were green trees in the center of the square. - There were green trees in the center of the square.
Thr will be a lot of pupils in the bus. - There will be many students on the bus.

We see from examples how the form of the verb changes and how the phrase changes. The translation style is also clearly visible: we change the meaning of the verb depending on the specific situation.

Questions, answers and denials

The phrase there is/there are, the rules of formation of which we discuss here, can be used not only in declarative sentences. We can also use it to pose questions, answer them and use it in negative constructions. Let's look at all these options in turn.

The construction of the question occurs by simple rearrangement of words. Depending on the type of question, the verb is placed in first or second place:

General question: Is thr a dog in the park? - Is there a dog in the park?
Special question: What is thr in the river? - What is there in the river?
Alternative question: Is thr a book or a pen in the bag? - Is there a book or pen in the bag?
Dividing question: Thr is a boy on the bench, is not there? - It's the boy on the bench, isn't it?

The answer to general or disjunctive questions using this phrase will be the option Yes, there is or No, there isn't (depending on the speaker's intention) or Yes, there are / No, there aren't, if the plural form was used in the sentence numbers.

Negative sentences can be constructed in two ways:

use of the negative particle not,
use of the pronoun no.

If we choose the first option, then in addition to the negative particle, we must use the pronoun any, which means the absence of something or someone.

Thr is not any dress in my room. - There is not a single dress in my room.
Thr are not any houses in this place. - There are no houses in this place.

By using the second option, we can do without unnecessary additional words, and the negative pronoun itself will relate more to the noun than to the verb:

Thr is no phone in my pocket. - There is no phone in my pocket.
Thr are no birds in this forest. - There are no birds in this forest.

Important points in using there is/there are

Translation into Russian of such a phrase is not the only feature that should be taken into account. There are a few more points that should not be forgotten when using this phrase. There are variants of proposals when we need to indicate the location of not one object, but several, that is, apply an enumeration. In this case, the following rule will apply: when listing several objects or people, you need to take into account the word that is located immediately after the phrase itself. The choice of verb form will depend on it:

Thr is a book, 2 pens and a bag on the sofa. - There is a book, two pens and a bag on the sofa.
Thr are 2 pens, a book and a bag on the sofa. - There are two pens, a book and a bag on the sofa.

This is easy to understand and remember, since in Russian this construction also looks different (lie, lie).

It is also worth remembering about nouns that can be countable and uncountable. If a word cannot have a plural form, then only the form suitable for the singular should be placed in front of it, regardless of the accompanying words:

Thr is a lot of water in this glass. - There is a lot of water in this glass (water does not have a plural).
Thr are a lot of glasses on the table. - There are many glasses on the table (glasses can be used in the plural).

Training

In order to always write and speak correctly, you need to practice using the phrase there is/there are. The exercises for this topic are simple and aimed at developing automatic memorization, as well as training to quickly select the correct form. For example:

Put the correct form of the verb. Thr...a kite in the sky. - A kite is flying in the sky.
Put a question to the proposal. Thr are a lot of girls at the party. - There are a lot of girls at the party.
Translate the sentence. On the table there is a computer, many books and notebooks.

Have you ever heard about the situation with a fly in a bowl of soup? If (God forbid) this happens to you, then you should complain to the waiter and demand a replacement of the dish immediately! Waiter! There's a FLY in my soup! Woop!

The construction of the sentence seems quite simple, but, oddly enough, in English the phrase “there is” / “there are” often causes many difficulties both in construction and in translation and, accordingly, in use. So when is there is and when are there?

But since you"re with us! There"ll be no problems! You will forever remember this phrase and be on friendly terms with it, carefully reading and remembering this article, of course. So, check it out!

What does there is/there are mean?

The phrase “there” + “be” is translated, starting with the circumstances of the place, which usually comes at the end of a sentence:

There is a cat in the box.
There (is) a cat in the box.

If there is no circumstance, then during translation the sentence begins with the words “is”, “there is”, “exists”, “happens”, “is located”, etc. In principle, often “there is / there are” is not translated at all . Like this
“invisible”, but extremely necessary turnover.

When to use there is and there are

« There is" And " there are"is used when they want to say that something exists (does not exist) or is (is not) located in a specific place.

« There is" indicates the presence in a certain place of some kind one object (person). Also used with indefinite subjects (this is when the indefinite article ("a", "an") is used when there is no article, or the words "some", "any", "no" are used), and with indefinite pronouns like "somebody", "nothing"

There's something that makes me feel worried. - Something is bothering me.

« There are» indicates availability at a specific location several(many) objects (persons).

There are two cats on the couch. - There (are) 2 cats on the sofa.

Please note: the word “there” (there) in the phrase “there is/there are” has no independent meaning and forms an inseparable whole with “is/are”. If, according to the meaning, it is necessary to express the circumstance of place with the word “there” - “there”, then “there” is repeated at the end of the sentence.

There are so many boxes there. - There (are) so many boxes.

Sentence structure with there is and there are

To make everything clearer, we present you with a simple formula and below is an example with numbers for clarity:

(1) " There is/there are" + (2) subject + (3) circumstance of place or time.

(1) There are (2) a lot of flowers (3) in the garden.

Affirmative sentences

There is one table in the classroom.
There are three cats on the couch.
There is a spider in the bath.
There are many sinners in Hell.

« There is» also used with uncountable nouns(uncountable nouns):

There is milk in the fridge.
There is some sugar on the table.
There is ice cream on your shirt.

The number of the verb “be” is determined by the number of the first noun after this phrase:

There is a table and two chairs in the room.
There are two cats and a midget in the car.

Abbreviations (contractions). “There is” in a simplified version becomes “ there's" Almost always, in informal correspondence or in colloquial speech, this particular version of the phrase is used.

There's a good song on the radio.
There's only one chocolate bar left in the box.

As you know, shortening can be done in different ways, but pay attention to the option with “are”:

there is not = there's not = there isn't/ there are not = there aren't. There's no contraction of “there are”. Pay attention!

There are nine cats on the roof.
There are only five weeks until my birthday.

When talking about informal communication, we can use "there's" even when talking about the plural. But don't try to use it in formal correspondence or in an exam. This is forbidden.

There's three other people who are still to come.
There's lots of cars in the car park.

Usually " there» not used with a definite subject.

The door was open. - The door is open. (Error: “There was the door open.”)

Interrogative sentences

Questions are formed by the usual rearrangement (subject " there" changes places with the predicate " be»):

Is there Anyone at home?
Are there any cats on the floor?

When posing a question to define the subject, question words are used “ how many», « how much"how much and interrogative pronoun" what", which precede the subject:

How many cats are there on the couch?
How much water is there in the bottle?
What is there in the box?

In the answer to the last question, the verb “to be” can also be used in the plural if the fact of the presence of several objects or phenomena is stated (or, for example, in the case of their listing):

« How many" With " are there" If we want to find out the number of existing objects, then we use “how many” according to the following structure:

« How many» + plural noun + « are there» (+ addition).

How many dogs are there in the park?
How many students are there in your class?
How many gangsters are there in Chicago?
How many horror movies are there in your collection?

"There" can also be used in " question tags"(short general question, stating the question).

There'll be enough boxes for everyone, won't there?

Negative sentences

In negative sentences after the verb " to be" is used either " not"(when the noun following the negation is preceded by pronoun or numeral), or " no"(in other cases).

There is not(isn't) any money in the wallet. — There is no money in the wallet.
There is no money in the wallet. — There is no money in the wallet.

A short negative answer consists of the word “ no", followed by " there" and the verb " to be" in the appropriate form with a negative particle " not»:

Are there any cats on the couch? No,there are not(aren't).
Is there a dog in the supermarket? - No, there isn't.

There "aren't" with "any". When we want to talk about zero quantity of something, we use " there aren't any».

There aren't any people at the party.
There aren't any trees in my street.

The same goes for uncountable nouns:

There isn't any water in the swimming pool.
There isn't any sugar in my coffee.

« There" can also be used in sentences where " be" is an auxiliary verb in the form progressive or passive. Pay attention to the word order:

There have been more Americans killed in road accidents than in all the wars since 1900.
There'll be somebody meeting you at the airport.

The construction can also be used with modal verbs:

There must be somebody inside - ring again.
There may be a mistake - check again.
There might be some prey running around - I should be attentive.

This structure should also be translated into Russian from the end.

Temporal forms there + be

What about other temporary forms? Or is it only the Present who is in charge here? Not at all!

"There" is used with different forms of "be" in a variety of tenses. Use it for your health!

There is / there are with countable/uncountable nouns

	Singular countable nouns (apple) Uncountable nouns (blood)	Plural countable nouns ( cats)
Affirmative	There is / was / will be an apple on my table. There is/ was/ will be (some/much) blood on the floor.	There are / were / will be three (many / a lot of) cats on the couch.
Negative	There isn't / wasn't / won't be an apple on my table. There isn't / wasn't / won't be (any/much) blood on the floor.	There aren't / weren't / won't be (any / many / a lot of) cats on the couch.
Questions	Is / was there an apple on my table? Will there be an apple on my table? Is / was there (any / some / much) blood on the floor? Will there be (any / some / much) blood on there floor?	Are/were there (any / many / a lot of) cats on the couch? Will there be (any / many / a lot of) cats on the couch?
How much / how many	How much blood is / was / will be there?	How many cats are / were / will be there?
Short answers	Yes, there is / was / will be. No, there isn't / wasn't / won't be.	Yes, there are / were / will be. No, there aren't / weren't / won't be.

There were fire-breathing dragons in the streets. ( Past Simple)
I think there"ll be loads of people at the festival. ( Future Simple)
There hasn't been many entries for the competition. ( Present Perfect)
The examination concluded that there had been no ill-treatment during detention. ( Past Perfect)
By the time he hopes that there will have been full consultation with the human rights bodies. ( Future Perfect Continuous).

It should be noted that in the question in the future tense before « there» is put « will", and the verb " to be" is put after him.

Will there be are your friends there? - Will your friends be there?

Difference between there is/there are and it/they

Take a look at the following suggestions. First, we become familiar with the essence of the proposal using “ there is / there are", and then we refer to the mentioned using " it" or " they».

There's a good movie on channel 2. It starts at 10 o"clock (it = the movie).
There are 3 new students in our class. They"re from Brazil (they = the students).

The constructions “there is” and “there are” are used only in relation to new information. If anything already mentioned in context, then you should use “it is” or “they are”.

We also use " it» + « to be» + adjective + infinitive phrases ( infinitive clauses). In such sentences the emphasis falls on the infinitive phrase:

It's nice to meet you.
It's hard to hear anything with this noise.
Was it easy to understand him?
It"ll be difficult to fit into the box.

Conclusion

Today we repeated/studied the main nuances of using the construction “there is” / “there are” in different tenses and types of sentences.

We hope you won’t have any more questions on this topic!

Keep going forward like there's no tomorrow!

And stay classy!

Big and friendly EnglishDom family

The construction there is (are) in the present tense. Rule. Example

Location design there is (are) refers to the most common constructions in English grammar.

Construction there is (are) is used when we want to say that a certain object is in a specific place.

EXAMPLE. There is a cat on the table.

In English this phrase has the following meaning:

On this lies on the table some kind cat.

(i.e. the table is specific (this one, mine), and this is the first time I’ve seen a cat :)

General view of the construction there is (are) in the present tense

Pay attention to the articles highlighted in blue:

article a means that I have not seen this OBJECT before (some kind of cat)

article the means that this PLACE is familiar to me (this table, my table, etc.)

1. Affirmative sentences with the construction there is (are):

There is+ a + noun (units) + place (its location)
There are+ noun (plural) + place (of their location)

EXAMPLES
There is a cat in the tree. — On this tree (yes) some kind cat.
There are two cats in the tree. — On this tree two some cats.

Design there is (are) translated as there is, is located

Verb is (are) in this construction you can NOT translate or use other verbs when translating, denoting location, for example: sitting, hanging, lying etc.

EXAMPLE. There is a cat in the tree. - Can be translated as On this tree sitting cat.

In this construction the word there lost its original meaning there.

2. Translation of a sentence with there is (are)

The translation of a sentence with this construction must begin with a word that answers the question Where?(usually it comes at the end of the sentence).

EXAMPLE

3. Interrogative sentences with the construction there is (are)

EXAMPLE
There is a problem. – Is is there a problem?

EXAMPLES
1) — Is there a problem? - Is there a problem?

- Yes, there is.- Yes.

- No, there isn't. No.

2) Are there books in your bag? — Are there any books in your briefcase?

- Yes, there are. - Yes.

or
- No, there aren’t. - No.

3) What is there in the room? - What is in this room?

— There is furniture in the room. - IN this the room has furniture.

4. Negative sentences with the construction there is (are)

Most often appears in negative sentences no(translated in this case as No).

EXAMPLE

Note 1.
If after the design there is there are two or more words, then the linking verb BE usually agrees with the first of them.

EXAMPLES
There is a lamp and some pencils on the table.
There are some pencils and a lamp on the table.

Note 2.
If a plural noun is preceded by a lot of, then the verb is used in the plural.

EXAMPLES
There are a lot of books on the table.

5. Forms of the construction there is (are) in simple tenses

There is (are)- in the present tense
There was (were)- in the past tense
There will be- in the future tense

6. A poem with the construction there is (are):

This is the Key of the Kingdom.
In that Kingdom there is a city;
In that city there is a town;
In that town there is a lane;
In that lane there is a yard;
In that yard there is a house;
In that house there is a room;
In that room there is a table;
On that table there is a basket;
In that basket there are some flowers.
Flowers in the basket, Basket on the table,
Table in the room, Room in the house,
House in the yard, Yard in the lane,
Lane in the street, Street in the town,
Town in the city, City in the Kingdom.
Of that Kingdom this is the Key.

7. Exercises for practicing the construction there is (are) in the present tense

In an affirmative sentence construction there is (are) has one of three options:

There is an apple on the apple tree.
There are three (many/some) apples on the apple tree.
There is some milk in the glass.

In design there is / are the noun may be preceded by a DETERMINER (functional word, e.g. the indefinite article (an, a), (three), quantity indicators (many, some) and their derivatives).

EXPLANATION

1. An indefinite article is placed before a singular noun a (an): an apple

2. Place before a plural noun cardinal number / many / some: three apples - three apples , many apples - a lot of apples, some apples - several apples.

3. An uncountable noun is preceded by indefinite quantity indicator some: some milk - a little milk.

Exercise 1. Rephrase the sentences using the construction there is or there are

SAMPLE The cherries are in the basket. => There are some cherries in the basket.

The newspapers are on the table. =>
The flowers are in the vase =>
The cheese is in the refrigerator. =>
The story by A. Christie is in the book. =>
The kitten is under the bed. =>

Grammar comment.

Question. How do the sentences differ: There is a bird in the tree. and The bird is in the tree? — Answer. Translation.

There is a bird in the tree. — Please note that when using the design there is, we are talking about a certain subject ( a bird), which is located in a specific place (in the tree) and the translation will be - Sits on (this) tree ( some kind) bird.

But if we rephrase the sentence, its meaning will change!

The bird is in the tree. — This sentence refers to a specific bird ( the = this), which is located in a specific place (in the tree) and the translation will be - This bird on the tree.

Now it remains to understand what the difference is between the words “some” and “this”...

Exercise 2. Translate into English using the construction there is or there are

There is tea in a cup. => There is some tea in the cup.
There are sweets in a vase. =>
There are gifts in the box. =>
There is food on the table. =>
There is porridge in the plate. =>

One of the most common constructions in English is the phrase there is there are. It locates an item or object. For example,

A cat is lying on the sofa. – There is a cat on the sofa.

This way we indicate where the cat is. The construction there is there are is always placed at the beginning of the sentence. If we are talking about one subject or object, we use the phrase There is, if we are talking about two or more – There are.

For example, sentences for there is there are:

There is a girl in the room. - The girl is in the room.

There are beautiful flowers in the garden. - There are beautiful flowers in the garden.

If a person begins to learn a language for the first time, then it is better to translate such sentences word for word into Russian. In this case, the above examples can be translated as - There is a girl in the room or There are beautiful flowers in the garden. Usually, no one talks like that, it’s just important to understand the meaning of what was said. A literal translation will help you correctly formulate phrases in English, and most importantly, begin to understand the logic of this phrase.

When you have worked out for yourself the correct construction of such sentences, then you can freely move on to a beautiful literary translation of constructions.

The first place to start studying turnover is:

There (is/are) + object/objects + location.

As you can see, in sentences with the construction there is/are, each word has its own specific place.

There is there are example sentences:

There is water in the bottle. - There is water in the bottle.

There is one mango on the table. – There is one mango on the table.

There are many people in the bus. – There are a lot of people on the bus.

There are four Chinese students in my class. – There are four Chinese students in my class.

Interrogative form and phrase there is there are in English

The interrogative form using this construction is created in this way: the verb to be is placed in first place before there.

Is there sugar on the table? – Is there sugar on the table?

Are there children on the playground? – Are there children on the playground?

The answers to such questions will look like this:

– if the answer is positive – Yes, there is (Yes, there are.)

– if negative – No, there is not (No, there aren’t)

If a sentence uses modal or auxiliary verbs, then they are placed first before the word there, and then the given verb to be will come after it.

Will there be magazines on the shelf tomorrow? – Will there be magazines on the shelf tomorrow?

You can use question words with these phrases, such as what, which, why, how long and when.

When composing a question, first we use these words, and then according to the standard scheme.

What is there in the box? - What's in the box?

How many countries are there in Africa? – How many countries are there in Africa?

Why are there cups on the bed? – Why are there cups on the bed?

Note: When answering a question in the singular, the plural may be used if several items are listed.

What is there in the room? – What is in the room?

There are two chairs and table in the room. - There are two chairs and a table.

Negative form with there is/there are constructions

If you study negative sentences, then the particle no or not appears here. We use it when we want to say that something somewhere is not, has not been or will not be. As a rule, for convenience, such turns are abbreviated there is not – there isn’t, and also there are not – there aren’t.

There is no window in the room. – There is not (isn’t) any window in the room. - There is no window in the room.

There are no animals in the wood. – There are not (aren’t) any animals in the wood. - There are no animals in the forest.

There is there are a rule of use in different tenses

Everything here is quite simple, we only use one verb to be in the appropriate tense.

There are flowers in the vase. - There are flowers in the vase.

There was a pen on the table yesterday. – Yesterday there was a pen on the table.

There has been a shop on this street recently. – Recently there was a store on this street.

There will be new building next to the school. – A new building will appear next to the school.