There Is, There Are, Some, Any

In English grammar we use “there is” or “there are” to talk about things we can see and things that exist.

We use “there is” for singular and uncountable nouns, and we use “there are” for plural countable nouns.

Examples:
“There are five people in the office.” (plural countable noun)

“There is a television in the living room.” (singular countable noun)

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.)

Remember: with singular countable nouns we use a/an, the, or another determiner or pronoun – not “some”.

“There is a woman in the shop.”

“There is the woman who works in the hospital.”

“There is my sister in the photo.”

There are two ways to form the negative.

1. Add not or n’t to the end of the verb.

“There isn’t a freezer in the kitchen.” (singular, countable noun)

“There isn’t any money in my wallet.” (uncountable noun)

“There aren’t any students” in the classroom. (plural noun)

For uncountable nouns, use “any” after the negative “isn’t”, and for plural countable nouns use “any” after “aren’t”.

Remember: Do not use “any” with singular countable nouns.
“There isn’t a single biscuit left in the packet.” (Not “There isn’t any single biscuit left in the packet.”)

2. Use “no” after “there is” or “there are”.

“There is no freezer in the kitchen.” (singular countable noun)

“There are no students in the classroom.” (plural noun)

“There’s no coffee left.” (uncountable noun)

However, it’s more common to use “isn’t + a” for singular countable nouns, “isnt + any” for uncountable nouns and “aren’t + any” for plural nouns.

1. To make a question, change the word order from subject-verb to verb-subject:

There is a + singular noun = Is there a + singular noun?

“Is there a toilet on this train?”

2. Then, change “some” to “any” in questions.

There is some + uncountable noun = Is there any + uncountable noun?

“Is there any time to go shopping?”

There are some + plural noun = Are there any + plural noun?

“Are there any trains to London this morning?”

Short answer form

Yes, there is. / No there isn’t.

Yes there are. / No there aren’t.

Title: Exploring the Park

Characters:

• Lily
• Jake

Scene: Lily and Jake are at the park, discussing what they see around them.

Lily: (pointing) Jake, look! There is a big tree over there.

Jake: (excited) Yes, Lily, and there are some birds on the tree branches.

Lily: (searching) Are there any squirrels around? I love squirrels.

Jake: (scanning) I don’t see any right now, but I think there are some squirrels in the park.

Lily: (happy) I hope we can find one. I want to take a photo of a squirrel.

Jake: (spotting something) Hey, Lily, there is a pond over there. Let’s go and see if there are any ducks in the water.

Lily: (eager) Great idea, Jake! I love watching ducks. I hope there are some in the pond.

Jake: (looking around) I can see some people having a picnic. It looks like fun.

Lily: (interested) Yes, Jake. I think there are many families enjoying the day at the park.

Jake: (content) It’s a beautiful day, Lily. There are so many things to see and do here.