THERE IS

THERE ARE
GRAMMAR
POSITIVE SENTENCES

• We use there is for singular and there are for plural.

• There is one table in the classroom.
• There are three chairs in the classroom.
• There is a spider in the bath.
• There are many people at the bus stop.
UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS

• We also use There is with uncountable nouns:

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

• The contraction of there is is there's.

• There's a good song on the radio.
• There's only one chocolate left in the box.
• You cannot contract there are.
• There are nine cats on the roof.
• There are only five weeks until my birthday.
NEGATIVE FORM

• The negative is formed by putting not after is or are:

• There is not a horse in the field.
• There are not eight children in the school.
• There is not a tree in the garden.
• There are not two elephants in the zoo.
NEGATIVE FORM

• We almost always use contractions when speaking.

• The Negative contractions are:
• There's not = There isn't
• There are not = There aren't
QUESTIONS

• To form a question we place is / are in front of there.

• Again we use any with plural questions or those which use uncountable nouns.
• We also use there is / are in short answers.
• Is there a dog in the supermarket? - No, there isn't.
• Are there any dogs in the park? - Yes, there are.
• Is there a security guard in the shop? - Yes, there is.
• Are there any polar bears in Antarctica? - No, there aren't.
• Is there any ice-cream in the freezer? - Yes, there is.
HOW MANY WITH ARE THERE

• If we want to find out the number of objects that exist we use How many in the following
form:
• How many + plural noun + are there (+ complement).
• How many dogs are there in the park?
• How many students are there in your class?
• How many countries are there in South America?
• How many Star Wars films are there?
WITH UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS, YOU USE HOW
MUCH….?
• How much milk is there?
• How much water is in the bottle?
• There is some milk. 
THERE AREN'T WITH ANY

• When we want to indicate that a zero quantity of something exists we use there aren't any.
• There aren't any people at the party. 
• There aren't any trees in my street.
• We also use this structure with uncountable nouns:
• There isn't any water in the swimming pool.
• There isn't any sugar in my coffee.
USING SOME

• With plural countable nouns we can either give the quantity (“five people”) or use
“some” if we don’t know the exact quantity.
• “There are five people in the office.” (We can see five people exactly)
• “There are some people in the office.” (We don’t know exactly how many people)
• With uncountable nouns we also use “some”.
• “There’s some milk in the fridge,” (I don’t know the exact quantity.)
• “There’s some money in my wallet.” (I don’t know exactly how much money.)
SOME AND ANY
LITTLE, A LITTLE, FEW, A FEW

• (A) little and (a) few are quantifiers meaning ‘some’. Little and few have negative

meanings. We use them to mean ‘not as much as may be expected or wished for’.
All she wanted was a few moments
some, a small number
on her own.

She had few moments on her own. not many/almost none

She saves a little money every

some, a small amount
month.

They had little money to spend. not much/almost nothing

A:
Have you got any money?
some, a small amount
B:
Yes, a little.

A:
Have you got any money?
not much/almost nothing
B:
No, very little.
A LITTLE, A FEW WITH A NOUN

• We use a little with singular uncountable nouns. We use a few with plural countable

nouns:
• Mary said nothing, but she drank some tea and ate a little bread.
• We stayed a few days in Florence and visited the museums.
LITTLE, FEW WITH A NOUN

• We use little with uncountable nouns. We use few with plural countable nouns. They are

used in formal contexts:
• I’m not very happy about it but I suppose I have little choice.
• Few cities anywhere in Europe can match the cultural richness of Berlin.
(A) LITTLE, (A) FEW WITHOUT A NOUN

• We can use (a) little and (a) few as pronouns. We can use them to substitute for a noun when it is
obvious from the context:
• After that, she began to tell them a little about her life in Scotland, particularly her life with the
Rosenblooms.
• Don’t take all the strawberries. Just have a few. (Just have a few strawberries.)
• Little and few are not very common without a noun. We use them in formal contexts:
• Little is known about his upbringing and education.
• Few would be in favour of police officers carrying weapons.
(A) LITTLE OF, (A) FEW OF

• We use of with (a) little and (a) few when they come before articles (a/an, the),

demonstratives (this, that), possessives (my, your) or pronouns (him, them):
• Put the flour into a bowl, blend with a little of the milk, beat in the egg yolks, then the
sugar and the rest of the milk.
• A few of his films were seen abroad.
A LITTLE: ADVERB

• We use a little as an adverb of degree. It is more formal than a bit:

• He smiled just a little.
• Her hands were shaking a little.
A LITTLE WITH ADJECTIVES, DETERMINERS, ADVERBS

• We use a little before adjectives and adverbs to modify them. It is more formal than a bit:
• She seemed to be getting a little better.
• What you need is a little more romance.
• We often use a little with bit:
• I find that a little bit hard to believe.
“THERE IS A LOT OF” VS “THERE ARE A LOT OF”

• “There are a lot of” with countable nouns, when we discuss plurals, and “There is a lot
of” with uncountable nouns, but there is of course flexibility here – in many cases it may
be down to the individual’s interpretation of the sentence.
• There are a lot of apples.
• There is a lot of meat.