Study materials
You want to say there is a cafe near your house. Your listener does not know about it yet, so the sentence does not start with the cafe.
There is a cafe near my house.
There are two cafes near my house.
The word there does not mean "over there" here. It only introduces new information, and the thing itself is named straight after it.
An English sentence always needs a subject, the word before the verb that names who or what acts. Here there takes that place. Without it the sentence falls apart.
Is a fly in my soup. → There is a fly in my soup.
The place usually goes at the end of the sentence. It can also move to the front, and then there is follows straight after it.
There is a lamp in the corner.
In my pocket there is a key.
If you also need a real “over there”, you say it separately, with the words over there.
There is a taxi over there.
When to use is and when to use are
The form is chosen by the word that follows. One thing or an uncountable takes is, and several things take are.
There is a bus stop here.
There is water in the bottle.
There are three problems.
A noun names a thing, a person or an animal. Singular means one thing, plural means several. Uncountable nouns are the ones you do not count one by one, like water, milk, rice or snow. They have no plural, so they always take is.
Ukrainian makes this easy to get wrong. The Ukrainian words for money and homework are plural, but in English money and homework are uncountable and take is. People, on the other hand, is plural and always takes are, even though it has no s.
There is some money in my wallet.
There are ten people in the queue.
Words like some, two or a lot of in front of the noun do not decide the form. Look at the noun itself.
There is a lot of homework today.
There are a lot of cars on the bridge.
In speech there is is nearly always contracted to there's. The plural is not contracted.
Do not confuse there's with they're, which is they are, or with theirs, which means belonging to them. They sound alike.
How to make negatives and questions
Be behaves as usual here. Not comes after it, and in a question the form moves to the front.
There isn't a bank here.
Is there a supermarket nearby?
Are there any clean cups?
The helper do, the word that builds negatives and questions with other verbs, is not needed here. Is and are manage on their own.
In short answers the word there stays in place: Yes, there is. No, there aren't.
A short answer reuses the words of the question. A yes answer is never shortened, because the stress falls on is. A no answer is shortened as usual.
Yes, there's. → Yes, there is.
No, there isn't.
Positive sentences often carry some, while questions and negatives carry any.
There are some photos on the wall.
There aren't any photos here.
Any also goes before uncountable nouns, and then the form is is. Instead of isn't any people often say it shorter, with no. No already means none, so a second negative never goes next to it.
Is there any soup left?
There is no sugar.
There isn't no sugar. → There isn't any sugar.
There is or it is
There is and it is are often mixed up. They usually come one after the other.
There is a park in my town.
It is small and quiet.
There is announces that something exists, while it is describes what has already been named, so there is comes first and it is follows.
So It is a park in my town means something quite different. It answers the question “what is that?”.
The word it also fills the subject's place in sentences about the weather, the temperature and the time. The weather is not a thing lying somewhere, so there does not fit. When you also need to say that something exists, there comes back.
It is cold today.
It is windy, and there is snow on the cars.
Asking how many and listing things
To ask about a quantity, take How many, then the plural, and only then are there.
How many students are there in the class?
For uncountable nouns How many becomes How much, and the noun stays without a plural. Then the form is is as well.
How much milk is there?
The answer uses the same structure, there are. The Ukrainian way of saying “they are seven” does not work in English. The answer is There are seven.
How many days are there in a week? There are seven.
And when you list several things in a row, the form is set by the first word after there. So it is convenient to name first whatever suits you.
There is a sofa and two chairs.
There are two chairs and a sofa.
Common mistakes
The first is choosing the form by the meaning instead of the first noun.
There are a problem. → There is a problem.
The second is starting with it where the thing is new.
It is a park in my town. → There is a park in my town.
The third is losing there in the answer.
Yes, it is. → Yes, there is.
The first shows in the noun straight after there. One thing or an uncountable word takes is, and several things take are. The second and third are caught by asking yourself whether you are announcing that something exists or describing what is already known. The first needs there, which also stays in the short answer, and the second needs it.