English Grammar: Avoid 5 Common Mistakes with THERE IS / THERE ARE

This is a living room. There is a couch. There is a fireplace.

There are windows. There are pillows.

When you were first learning English, you probably made sentences like these

to talk about things you see or things that exist.

It seems like an easy topic, right?

But as you know, simple things become a bit more complicated as you progress in your studies.

In this lesson, let's make sure you're avoiding common mistakes with There is/There are.

[title]

Don't choose the wrong verb form. Use subject-verb agreement.

We use THERE plus a form of BE to talk about things that exist.

The focus is on the noun that follows the verb BE.

We use a singular verb before a singular noun.

For example, this is a living room. There is a couch. There is a fireplace.

We use a plural verb before a plural noun.

There are windows. There are pillows.

If you have an uncountable noun, remember to use a singular verb.

There is enough room here for a piano. Usually there is plenty of sunlight.

Some words can create confusion. "Variety" is a good example.

Even native speakers get confused and wonder if we should write

"There is a wide variety of products." OR "There are a wide variety of products."

Most dictionaries list "variety" (in "a wide variety") as a singular noun,

which leads us to the conclusion that we should say "There is a wide variety of products."

But here's another solution: Find an alternative. How about this?

The store has a wide variety. They sell many different products.

Don't break the rules at the wrong time.

You can get away with breaking subject-verb agreement rules, but only in very informal English, especially spoken English.

I just said the verb has to agree with the noun that follows.

But in American English, it's become somewhat acceptable to use the contraction "There's" before a plural noun.

This is my purse, and it's really heavy.

There's probably a lot of things in here that I don't need.

Now that's grammatically incorrect.

I should say, "There are a lot of things that I probably don't need."

"Things" - that's a plural noun.

But in fast informal English, I can say, "There's a lot of things..."

There's a lot of things I probably don't need in here.

And my listeners won't mind.

But if you're writing formal email or making a business presentation, I don't recommend following this pattern.

Follow the rules for subject-verb agreement in more formal situations.

Use a singular verb before a series of singular nouns.

Here's an example. I'll tell you about the things in this living room.

There's a couch, a rug, a bookcase, and a piano.

Although I listed more than one thing, the item that immediately followed the verb BE was a singular noun: a couch.

It sounds more natural to use a singular verb.

There is a couch.

It's understood that I could repeat "there is" before each item in the list, but I say it only once.

There is a couch, a rug, a bookcase, and a piano.

Use the word "any" correctly with There is/There are.

We use "any" in questions and in negative statements.

To ask whether something exists, you don't need "any."

For example, I could ask, "Is there a post office nearby?"

If you don't care about specific details and you only want a yes-no answer, then you can use "any."

For example: Is there any electrician who charges less than $100 an hour?

I want to know: Is there one? Anyone?

Name anyone for me who charges less than $100 an hour.

In a negative statement, I use "any" to express what I have nothing of.

For example, there aren't any flowers in this room.

There isn't any place to take a long nap.

In negative statements, we use "any" with "not."

For emphasis, we could simply use "no." As in, there's no place like home.

As a writer, don't overuse "there is/there are"

because then you're writing will sound wordy.

Let's take a moment to consider a difference between speaking and writing.

We might use "there is/there are" quite a lot in conversation

not only to talk about what exists, but also to recall information or facts.

For example, my husband might complain that we can't go out to dinner because we don't have a babysitter.

But then I can mention a possibility that he might have forgotten.

And I want him to recall this fact.

I could say, "Well, there's our neighbor. Couldn't we ask her?"

I'm presenting this possibility to consider.

Now let's switch to a written context.

Take a look and tell me if you like how this email sounds.

[reads]

This could be less wordy, couldn't it?

Let's compare this version to another.

[reads]

Did you note the changes?

Do you see how I reduced the number of times I used "There is/There are"?

Okay. How well have you been listening?

Let's do a quick check.

Choose the correct verb.

Answers.

1. There is a bunch of stuff in the hallway.

"Stuff" is an uncountable noun.

There is stuff. How much stuff? A lot of stuff. A bunch of stuff.

There's a bunch of stuff in the hallway.

2. We still have to clean the upstairs. There's the bathroom, the two bedrooms, and the attic.

Here we have a string of nouns. The first item is singular: bathroom.

So it makes sense to use a singular verb.

It's understood that we could use "There is/There are" constructions before each item.

But is sounds most natural to use "there is." There's the bathroom...

3. Are there any questions at this time?

"Questions" is a plural noun. We need a plural verb.

And it's a question, so it makes sense to use "any" to ask about the existence of questions.

4. There is no substitute for the support of a good friend.

Remember in negative statements, we could use "not" + "any" OR the word "no" + the noun.

There is no (what?) There is no substitute.

Here's a bonus task. How would you rewrite this statement to make it more concise?

Here's my suggestion:

[reads]

Well, there's probably more we can talk about, but we'll end here.

I hope you found this useful.

Thanks for watching and happy studies!