There is/There are

When to use there is

Use there is:

• with singular nouns

Example:

There is one cafe in the village.

• with uncountable nouns

Example:

There is milk in my coffee.

There is some money on the table.

When to use there are

Use there are:

• with plural nouns

Example:

There are two shops in the village.

How to conjugate there is/there are

To conjugate there is/there are, we use the simple present of the verb be:

Short forms

We shorten there is to there’s.

There are stays the same.

Example:

There’s a tree in the garden.

but: There are two trees in the garden.

not: There’re

there is/there are in other tenses

We can use there is/there are in most (but not all) tenses.

To do so, we take the conjugation of be in that tense.

Examples:

There was a rainbow in the sky yesterday. (simple past)

There will be a concert tomorrow. (future)

There have been two accidents since last year. (present perfect simple)

Note: we can’t use there is/there are in the progressive tenses.

some or any?

We use some in positive sentences and any in negative sentences and questions.

Examples:

There are some people in the shop.

There isn’t any milk.

Are there any shops in your village?

We can use some in questions, but only when we expect the answer to be affirmative.

Read more about some vs. any.