There Is and There Are: Saying What Exists
How to say what exists and where it is — the English pattern that has no direct equivalent in most languages.
To say that something exists, English uses a fixed pattern: there is or there are. The word there here does not mean a place. It is just part of the structure.
Singular and plural
- There is + one thing: There is a bank on this street.
- There are + more than one: There are two banks on this street.
The verb agrees with the thing after it, not with there.
Uncountable nouns take "is"
Water, bread, money, time, information and music cannot be counted, so they always take is:
- There is milk in the fridge.
- There is a lot of traffic today.
Questions and negatives
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| Question | Is there a…? | Are there any…? |
| Negative | There isn't a… | There aren't any… |
- Is there a pharmacy near here? — Yes, there is. / No, there isn't.
- Are there any tickets left? — No, there aren't.
Use any in questions and negatives, some in positive sentences: There are some chairs.
To ask about quantity, put how many / how much in front:
- How many people are there in your team?
- How much time is there before the train?
The past
- There was a mistake in the bill.
- There were three people waiting.
Adding a modal
The pattern takes will, might, should, used to without changing shape — the verb stays be.
- There will be a break at eleven.
- There might be a delay.
- There used to be a cinema here.
In speech: there's
There's is extremely common and contracts freely. There're is not really used — speakers say the full there are.
- ✅ There's someone at the door.
- ✅ There are two people at the door. (not "there're")
Common mistakes
Many languages use have here. English does not.
❌ Here have a supermarket. ✅ There is a supermarket here.
❌ It is three rooms in the flat. ✅ There are three rooms in the flat.
There is vs it is — there is introduces something for the first time; it is talks about something already known. There's a letter for you. It's from the bank.
And with a list, the verb follows the first item:
✅ There is a table and four chairs. ✅ There are four chairs and a table.
Where to use it
This pattern is how you describe a room, a town, a photo or a problem — so it appears constantly in exams and in real conversation.
There is a small kitchen, and there are two windows. There isn't a lift, but there is a garden.
Viewing a flat
A: Is there a washing machine?
B: There is, yes. And there's a dishwasher, though there isn't much cupboard space.
A: How many bedrooms are there?
B: Two. There used to be three, but the last owner knocked a wall through.
Every sentence describing the flat uses the pattern — that is how normal it is.
Test yourself
The quiz below checks singular and plural, questions, negatives and the past.