There is/There are - Some/any

There is/There are/There's one - A/An/Some/any

There is/ There are

We use there is and there are to say that something exists.

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.

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.

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.

A/ AN / There's one

We use A/AN (articles) with singular countable nouns.

My brother has a dog and my sister has a cat. There is an accident on the corner.

A is used when the next word starts with a consonant sound.

A book - A guitar - A friend - A university (The start of the word university sounds like YOU, a consonant sound).

AN is used when the next word starts with a vowel sound.

An apple - An ice cream - An orange - An hour (the letter H in this word is silent so it sounds like it starts with a vowel).

There's one

We use "There is one" when we are talking about an object that was mentioned before.

E.g.

A: Is there a park in this neighborhood?

B: There's one in front of the hospital.

Note: In the second sentence we do not mention "park" again, instead we use "one" as a substitution because we know we are talking about a park already.

Some/Any

We use SOME and ANY with plural nouns and uncountable nouns.

Some is generally used in positive sentences.

Any is generally used in negative sentences.

I have some information for you about flights to Paris. (Positive - Uncountable)

I don't have any information for you about flights to Paris. (Negative - Uncountable)

We met some friends for drinks after work yesterday. (Positive - Plural Countable)

I didn't see any friends there on Thursday.(Negative - Plural Countable)

Questions with Some and Any

Generally, we use ANY in questions.

Do you know any famous people? Do you have any children?

But, SOME is used in the following circumstances:

1. When we are offering something.

Would you like some coffee? Do you want some sugar for your coffee?

2. When we are asking for something.

Could I have some salt, please? Can I have some fries with that?

3. When we are suggesting something.

Why don't we watch some movies on TV tonight? Why don't you give her some advice?

Let's Practice!

Multiple Choice

....any crayons.

• There are

• There aren't

• There isn't

Multiple Choice

_____ any milk?

• Are there
• Is there

Multiple Choice

...........any sugar?

• There is
• Is there
• It is

Multiple Choice

_____ there two chairs in the kitchen?

• Is
• Are

Multiple Choice

I don't have______________money.

• some

• any

Multiple Choice

Can I have __________ sandwich ?

• any

• some

Multiple Choice

Would you like____________KFC?

• some

• any

Multiple Choice

There aren't__________tables in the living room.

• some

• any

Multiple Choice

There________four chairs in the living room.

• are

• is

Multiple Choice

There________four chairs in the living room.

• are

• is

That's all folks!:)