The turnover there is / there are is a speech construct that begins to be studied at the initial stage of teaching English. If you need to tell about the whereabouts of an object or person, then you will need to apply this phrase. By itself, 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 in English is used quite often, since we constantly need to indicate the position of an object. And this phrase helps to do this in the best way possible. For example, you need to say that there are three doctors in a certain room.

With the help of turnover, we get the following proposal: There are three doctors in the room. At the same time, we draw your attention to the word order in the sentence.

There is (thr is) There are (thr are)

location

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

Why does the turnover look like this? 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. - Dogs are sitting on the bed.

There is / there are: russian translation

It is important to understand that the sentence in which this phrase is used cannot be translated verbatim. 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. - A book is on the table.
• Thr are dogs in the yard. - Dogs are running around in the yard.

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

Temporary features

The next thing that needs to be said when discussing the turnover there is / there are are different forms of the verb "to be" when using the phrase in different tenses. As you know, the strong verb to be has many forms, so in our case, each time period has its own form.

Present time
Past tense
Future

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

• Thr is a kitten in the corner. - A kitten is 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 turnover changes. The style of translation is also clearly visible: we change the meaning of the verb depending on the specific situation.

Questions, answers and denials

The turnover there is / there are, the rules for the formation of which we are discussing here, can be applied not only in declarative sentences. We can also use it to pose questions, answer them and use it in negative constructions. Let's take a look at each of these options in turn.

The question is constructed by simply rearranging the 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 a pen in your bag?
• Separation 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 separative questions using this phrase will be Yes, there is or No, there isn't (depending on the speaker's intention) or Yes, there are / No, there aren't, if the sentence used the plural form numbers.

Negative sentences can be built in two ways:

• using a negative particle not,
• application of the pronoun no.

If we choose the first option, then in addition to the negative particle, it is imperative to 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.

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

• Thr is no phone in my pocket. “I don’t have my phone in my pocket.
• Thr are no birds in this forest. - There are no birds in this forest.

Important points of use there is / there are

Translation into Russian of such a turnover is not the only feature that should be taken into account. There are a few more things to keep in mind when using this phrase. There are variants of sentences 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 turnover itself. The choice of the form of the verb will depend on him:

• Thr is a book, 2 pens and a bag on the sofa. - On the couch is a book, two pens and a bag.
• Thr are 2 pens, a book and a bag on the sofa. “There are two handles on the couch, a book and a bag.

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

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

• Thr is a lot of water in this glass. - There is a lot of water in this glass (water has no plural).
• Thr are a lot of glasses on the table. - There are many glasses on the table (glasses can be used in the plural).

Workout

In order to always write and speak correctly, you need to train to use the there is / there are turnover. Exercises for this topic are simple and aimed at developing automatic memorization, as well as training to quickly select the correct form. For instance:

• Put in the correct form of the verb. Thr ... a kite in the sky. - A kite is flying in the sky.
• Add 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. There is a computer on the table, a lot of books and notebooks.

The grammatical structure proposed for study in this article is one of the basic lexical and grammatical phenomena of the English language, which is found quite often both in oral and written speech and will certainly come in handy in practice. But ignorance of this construction will be able to confuse a person studying English literally in the most elementary situations.

The meaning of the construction there is / are and translation into Russian

This combination of words should not be translated literally, but so that you do not have a desire to go into the dictionary for the translation of individual elements, we will nevertheless give it. The adverb there corresponds to the Russian adverb “there, there”. Now let's look at a few examples proving the inappropriateness of this adverb in Russian sentences equivalent to English ones containing the construction there is / are:

Thus, we see that in each of the sentences the construction there is / are is translated differently, but all these sentences are united by one thing - "somewhere (or sometime) something is (passes)", which is the overall meaning of this design. And in order to translate a sentence with the construction there is / are into Russian, it is enough to find the circumstance of place (or time) - most often it is at the end of the sentence, less often at the very beginning; start the Russian sentence with it, and then the meaning of the object named after the construction there is / are will tell you how to continue the Russian sentence. Location verbs will often appear in the translation - "lie down", "stand", "hang", "be", etc. - and sometimes the verb will be absent altogether in the Russian sentence, for example:

There is / are sentence structure

As you can see from the second example in the above group, the sentence does not necessarily start with the there is / are itself. Quite often, it begins with the circumstance of place (or time), but the word order in the affirmative sentence remains direct, that is, after the circumstance, the formal subject there is put, then - the required form of the verb to be and what, in fact, is a question of - the semantic subject, which determines the form of the predicate.

Choosing a verb form

There is / are - this is only one temporary form from among those in which this construction is used, namely the form. But already at this initial stage, it is important to correctly determine the right one. So, is(often in the form of abbreviation 's) is used when it comes to one object (phenomenon). Form are('Re) is used when referring to plural items, for example:

singular	plural
There is a new supermarket near my house.	There are two churches near my house.
There is a new supermarket near my house.	There are two churches near my house.
There’s a train to London at 10.30 a.m.	There’re three trains to London in the morning.
At 10.30 am the train leaves for London.	In the morning, three trains leave for London.

In such sentences, it is the adverb there that is the formal (desemantized, that is, without its own meaning) subject, while a little further, after the required form of the verb to be, there is a semantic subject that has its own meaning. The agreement of the personal form of the verb is carried out with the semantic subject, while the direct or reverse word order is determined by the position of the formal subject.

Interestingly, if after the construction there is / are there is an enumeration of objects, then the choice of the verb form of the singular or plural comes from the number of the first of the enumerated objects, for example:

It is possible to use the construction there is / are in other temporary forms. And although the very meaning of this construction, implying a state, location, and not a dynamic process, imposes restrictions on the number of temporal forms in which its use is permissible, tenses are quite common for this construction. Temporary forms Continuous and Perfect Continuous are unacceptable for this design.

time	design diagram	example	translation of example
Present simple	there is / are	There is a book of poetry on the shelf.	There is a book with poetry on the shelf.
Past simple	there was / were	There were 250 rooms in the hotel where we stayed last year.	The hotel where we stayed last summer had 250 rooms.
Future simple	there will be	There will be a thunderstorm tomorrow.	There will be a thunderstorm tomorrow.
Present perfect	there has / have been	Look! There has been an accident on this road.	Look! There was an accident on this road.
Past perfect	there had been	We went by and saw two crashed cars. There had been an accident on that road.	We passed by and saw two cars colliding. There was an accident on that road.
Future Perfect (very rare and requires specific context)	there will have been	There will have been a meeting in your classroom when you come there.	There will be a meeting in your class by the time you get there.

negative form

To form a negative form of the construction there is / are in any of its temporal variations, it is necessary to add the particle not directly to the desired form of the verb to be or an auxiliary verb, if it is provided by the temporal form, for example:

Interrogative forms

To form interrogative sentences with the construction there is / are, it is necessary to resort to inversion - the reverse word order, in which the required form of the verb to be or an auxiliary verb, if necessary to create the desired tense form, precedes the formal subject there. Let's look at examples of five different types of questions:

type of question	example	translation
general question	Is thereany bread at home? - Yes, there is some.	Do you have bread at home? - Yes there is a bit.
special question	Why are there so many people everywhere?	Why are there so many people everywhere?
alternative question	Is there any tea or coffee in the cupboard?	Is there tea or coffee in the kitchen cabinet?
question to the subject	Who was there in the room?	Who was in the room?
separated question	There are three pandas in the zoo, aren’t there? There aren’t any teachers in the classroom now, are there?	There are three pandas in the zoo, right? There are no teachers in the class right now, right?

Use with modal verbs

The construction there is / are forms stable combinations with modal verbs. In this case, the verb to be is used, for example:

There's a table in the room vs. The table is in the room

Why in some cases it is necessary to use the construction there is / are and what is its difference from a similar sentence without this construction, given above? Let's consider them in more detail:

	There’s a table in the room.	The table is in the room.
translation	There is a table in the room.	The table is in the room.
question answered by sentence	What is there in the room? - What's in the room?	Where is the table? - Where is the table?
main information statements	a table - table	in the room - in the room

Thus, we can conclude that such statements are distinguished by the speaker's speech intention, that is, by what he wants to highlight as the main or new information of the sentence.

The construction there is / there are is used to report the location of objects and persons. Remember a simple rule: if the Russian sentence begins with the circumstance of the place (the first word of the Russian sentence answers the question "where?"), then we start the English sentence with there is / there are. For example: "There is a mouse in the box" - There is a mouse in the box. In this case, the very circumstance of the place (in the box - in the box) must be put at the end of the sentence. English sentences with the construction there is / there are are translated from the end (while There is ... there are is not translated). For example: There is a bench in the garden - There is a bench in the garden.

If the sentence begins with a subject ("who?" Or "what?") This construction is not used, we translate it as it is: the car is on the street - the car is in the street.

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Let us compare the two sentences "vase on the table" and "vase on the table". The first begins with the circumstance of the place, and the second with the subject, respectively, to translate the first sentence we use There is a…. - “there is a vase on the table”, and we translate the second sentence without this construction - “the vase is on the table”. If the subject (the object referred to in the sentence) is singular, then there is is used, and if plural, then there are.

• Please note that (is, are) in such sentences can be translated as "lies", "stands", "hanging", "growing", "is": There are toys in the box - In the box lie toys, there is a big tree in front of my house - In front of my house is growing a big tree.
• When listing items, There is used is, if the first item listed is in the singular (There is a copy book, three pencils and a ruler on the table) and there are if the first item listed is plural (There are three pencils, a copy book and a ruler on the table).

Word order in affirmative, interrogative, and negative there is / there are

Prepositions of place are service words that connect the members of a sentence and are closely related to the use of the construction there is / there are, so we consider them in this post. First, let's remember the prepositions of place and direction in English.

• On - on: there is an apple on the plate - there is an apple on the plate
• In - inside: there are pens in the bag - there are pens in the bag
• Above / over - over: there is a picture above the fireplace - a picture hangs over the fireplace
• At - at: at the wall - at the wall
• Near - near, near, nearby: near my house - near my house
• Under - under: under the table - under the table
• Below - below, under: below the window - under the window
• Behind - behind: behind the tree - behind the tree
• To - indicates movement towards the subject: to school - to school, to work - to work, to a friend - to a friend
• Into - inside: into the room - into the room
• From - indicates movement from the subject: from school - from school, from work - from work, take the cup from that boy - take the cup from that boy, take the book from the table - take the book from the table
• Out of - from (from within): out of the bag - from the bag
• In front of - in front of: in front of my house - in front of my house
• Between - between: between the cupboard and the sofa - between the wardrobe and the sofa
• Up - up: up the street - up the street
• Through - through, through: through the window - through the window
• Across - across the street
• Beside / next to - next (next in a row): sit next to me - sit next to me

• We recommend that you pay attention to the difference between the prepositions in and into. Phrases with the preposition in answer the question "where?" - in the cupboard - in the closet, in the bag - in the bag, in the box - in the box. Phrases with the preposition into answer the question "where?" - into the cupboard - into the closet, into the bag - into the bag, into the box - into the box.

More about the preposition into watch in our video:

• Remember the exceptions: in the tree - in the tree, on the street - in the street, in the picture - in the picture.

Prepositions in English perform many functions, act as case endings, which are absent in English, are an integral part of an uncountable number of expressions and in no case should they be neglected.

This grammar topic teaches you how to work with the popular English construction there is / there are... Or, in other words, how to say: there is something, there is not something.

At the airport (there are) many rules.- There are a lot of rules at the airport.

There is no stadium in the town.- There isn’t a stadium in the town.

We use this construction when the sentence says that something is / not is somewhere. In other words, something is somewhere or something is not somewhere. To do this, in English, we use the construction there is / there are.

The word there in this construction will not change under any circumstances. Will change, according to the law of the genre, the verb to be in number and in tenses, we will talk below.

Here you need to be careful and not to confuse the adverb there (there) and part of the construction there is / are... The difference will be visible in the context and translation: there, which is included in there is / are, will not even be translated, it just "is". For instance:

There is only one restaurant there. - There (is) only one restaurant.

The second part of this construction is the verb we already know "be"- to be in the form is and are (is for the singular, are for the plural).

There is a cake in the fridge. - There is a cake in the fridge.

There's a hole in my pocket. - There's a hole in my pocket.

In the last sentence, we abbreviated there is to there’s, which is quite typical for spoken English.

There are two men in the room. - There are two men in the room.

There’re many mistakes in your test, you must do it over. - There are a lot of errors in your test, you have to redo it.(there are = there’re)

Often a student asks the question: why can't I just say through a verb to be? For instance:

Many mistakes are in your test.

Everything is very simple: such a sentence is grammatically correct, but the speaker will not say so, it will sound less natural to his ear. In addition, the design there is / are very popular with native speakers, so definitely not worth avoiding.

Interestingly, sentences with there is / are we translate from the end, the construction itself may not be translated at all, or it may be translated by the word "is".

There are many Italian foodstuffs in this shop. - There are many Italian products in this store.

There are seven days in a week. - There are seven days in a week.

Negation

It is a pleasure to work with this construction: to build negation, we

add a particle not or the word no after is / are

There is not an umbrella in the car. - There is no umbrella in the car.

There isn’t any cold water in the fridge. - There is no cold water in the refrigerator.

There is no lamp in my son's room. - There is no lamp in my son's room.

You noticed that after there is not there must be an article a or an; after there is no we do not put either the article or any.

There are not two but three kids in their family. - Their family has not two, but three children.

There aren't problems with this child. - There is no problem with this child.

There are no guests at the party. - There are no guests at the party.

Question

To build a question, you just need to rearrange the words in the construction itself there is / are.

Is there a scarf in the wardrobe? - Is there a scarf in the closet?

Is there a dog in the car? - Is there a dog in the car?

What is there on the table? - What is (is) on the table?

Are there letters for me? - Are there any letters for me?

Are there students in the lecture hall? - Are there students in the classroom?

How many days are there in February? - How many days in February?

Very often the question arises in sentences where we need to list items in both the singular and the plural. What to do in these cases?
The choice of is or are will depend on the first noun immediately following the construction there is / are.

There is one bathroom and two bedrooms in my flat. - My apartment has two bedrooms and one bathroom.

Because "bathroom" the first is singular, we chose there is.

There are 200 (two hundred) passengers and one air steward on the plane. - The plane has one flight attendant and 200 passengers.

In this sentence "Passengers" plural comes first, so we chose there are.

You can answer briefly:

Are there dogs in the pet-shop? - No, there aren’t. - Are there dogs at the pet store? - Not.

Is there a line / queue? - Yes, there is. - Is there a queue? Yes, I have.

Countable and uncountable nouns

First, remember that there are such useful concepts in English as a countable noun and uncountable nouns. A countable noun can be counted in pieces: book-books, raccoon-raccoons, room-rooms... Accordingly, an uncountable noun cannot be counted in pieces, examples of such words: sugar, flour, sand, water

There is only works with singular countable nouns or only uncountable nouns.

There is a store-room in the flat. - The apartment has a storage room.(example with a countable noun in the singular).

There is no sugar in my tea. - There is no sugar in my tea(example with an uncountable noun).

That is, we do not say: There are no sugar in my tea.

Accordingly, there are only works with the plural of countable nouns (well, uncountable nouns simply do not exist in the plural).

There are many rules in the English language. - There are many rules in English.(rule-rules, countable plural noun)

There are no lipsticks in her purse. - There is no lipstick in her purse.(lipstick-lipsticks, countable plural noun)

A lot of construction

The construction a lot of works a lot with both countable and uncountable nouns, but there is one subtlety when using it together with there is / are.

There is a lot of salt in my soup. - There is a lot of salt in my soup.

Even though a lot of is a lot, we do not put there are here because "salt" uncountable noun.

There are a lot of important documents in his safe. - There are many important documents in his safe.

We use there are because “ documents»- a countable noun and plural.

Some / any

An important part of this topic is the indefinite pronouns some and any. These words denote a certain quantity (imprecise quantity).

Some is used in affirmative sentences.

Any is used in negative and interrogative sentences.

There is some bread in a bread bin. - There is some bread in the bread bin.
Is there any bread in a bread bin? - Is there any bread in the bread bin?
There isn’t any bread in a bread bin. - There is (no) bread in the bread bin.

There are some letters at the post office. - There are several letters in the mail.
Are there any letters at the post office? - Are there any letters in the mail?
There aren’t any letters at the post office. - There are no letters in the post office.

• Some and any work with both countable and uncountable nouns.

Sometimes we can come across small subtleties of translation:

• Some+ uncountable noun = "a little" or depending on the context.

  There is some sand in your shoes. - There is some sand in your shoes.

• Some+ countable plural noun number = "several"

  There are some eggs in the fridge. - There are several eggs in the refrigerator.

• Some+ countable noun in singular. number = "some"

  There is some guy in your office. - There's a guy in your office.

• Any in a negative sentence = "none, none, none"

  There aren’t any letters for you. - There are no letters for you.

• Any in an interrogative sentence = "any, any, any / any"

  Is there any butter at home? - Do you have (any) butter at home?
  Are there any dresses in this shop? - Does this store have any dresses?

As you noticed, we put the translation of the words any and some in brackets, that is, in the Russian version these words are optional. In the English version, they are required.

And the last point: do not need to consume some / any, if you have a specific item in the singular and countable. In this case, you need the article a / an:

There isn’t a bike near the house. - There is no bike near the house... That is, a specific bike.

If the question arose: why does not the article the go with a specific object, if the object is specific? The answer is simple: after there is always only articles a / an go.

There is a big window in my room. - There is a large window in my room.

Drinking at other times

Of course, we not only say in the present tense: there are a lot of people, no problem etc. In the past, future tense, we also say: there were no problems, there were many people, there will be many questions... If you are already familiar with the topic of modal verbs and tenses: Past Simple, Future Simple, Present Perfect and Past Perfect, then there will be no questions ☺

Since as part of the structure there is / are we have a verb (to be in the form is and are) it is logical that it can change in tenses, if we need it. Recall that the form there is / there are refers to the simple present tense (Present Simple).

If you know how to be works in principle at different times, then you will not have any problems. And we remind:

Time	Form to be	Examples of
Past simple	There was / were	There was a hole in my pocket. - There was a hole in my pocket. Were there any problems with your essay? - Were there any problems with your essay? There wasn’t a wallet on my table. - There was no wallet on my desk.
Future simple	There will be	There will be a lesson on Monday. - Lesson will be on Monday. Will there be a meeting this week? - Will there be a meeting this week? There will be no winners in this war. - There will be no winners in this war.
Present perfect	There have been / There has been	There have been a lot of money problems this year. - There were a lot of money problems this year. Have there been many interesting projects recently? - Have there been a lot of interesting projects there recently? There hasn't been any client today. - There wasn't a single customer today.
Past perfect	There had been (These formulas are rarely used in spoken English)	There had been some of my daughter's friends when I came home. - When I got home, several of my daughter's friends were there. He told me that there had been no real love in his life. - He told me that there was not a single true love in his life. Had there been a party already when you arrived? - When you arrived, was there a party already?

Modal verbs and there is / are

Modal verbs also fit perfectly into the structure of a sentence with there + be, all the rules are the same, you just need to understand modal verbs and remember that after modal we do not change to be, and leave it in its original form:

There must be some explanation for his behavior. - There must be an explanation for his behavior.

There should be some law against people like you. - There must be some kind of law against people like you.

There may be a dangerous turn of events. - Events can take a dangerous turn.

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

There is a cat on the couch. - There is a cat on the sofa.

Thus, we indicate where the cat is. There is there are always placed at the beginning of a sentence. If we are talking about one object or object, we use the turnover Тhere is, if about two or more - Тhere are.

For example, the sentences on there is there are:

There is a girl in the room. - The girl 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 literally 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 speaks like that, it is just important to understand the meaning of what is said. 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 the correct construction of such sentences for yourself, then you can freely move on to a beautiful literary translation of the structures.

The first thing to start with the study of the turnover is:

Тhere (is / are) + item / items + location.

As you can see, in sentences with the construction there is / are, each word has its own definite 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 and there is there are in English

The interrogative form with the use of this construction is created in this way: the verb to be is put in the 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 in the playground?

The answers to such questions will look like this:

- with a positive answer - Yes, there is (Yes, there are.)

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

If modal or auxiliary verbs are used in a sentence, then they are put in the first place before the word there, and then the given verb to be will be after it.

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

Interrogative words such as what, which, why, how long, and when can be used with these phrases.

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

What is there in the box? - What is 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 cups on the bed?

Note: In the answer to a question, the singular may use the plural in the case of multiple items.

What is there in the room? - What's 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

If you study negative sentences, then the particle no or not already appears. We use it when we want to say that something is not somewhere, did not exist or will not be. As a rule, for convenience, such turnovers are reduced 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 rules of use at different times

Everything is quite simple here, 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. “There was a shop on this street recently.

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