1Complete the sentence.
2Complete the sentence.
3Complete the sentence.
4Complete the sentence.
There is / there are: explanation and exercises
A1Updated 2026-09-216 exercises
There is and there are say that something exists or is present. There is goes with singular and uncountable nouns; there are goes with plural nouns. It is the natural pair for describing rooms, towns and pictures.
How it is formed
- Affirmative
There is a park near my house.
There are two chairs in the room.
- Negative
There isn’t any milk.
There aren’t any students.
- Question
Is there a bank near here?
Are there any eggs?
When to use it
- Describing a room, a town or a picture.
- Saying what is available.
- Asking whether something exists nearby.
Common mistakes
Not this
There is three cats.Say thisThere are three cats.
Plural noun, plural verb.
Not this
Have a park near my house.Say thisThere is a park near my house.
Have does not mean “exist”. Use there is.
Not this
There is any milk.Say thisThere isn’t any milk.
Any is used in negatives and questions; use some in affirmatives.
Tips for teaching it
- Describe the classroom together (There are four windows), then let students describe their bedroom.
- Pair with some / any as soon as students are comfortable with the basic forms.
- A spot-the-difference picture task gives natural, repeated use of both forms.
Practice: there is / there are exercises
Try these exercises. Answers are checked in your browser and never sent to us. Teachers can share this page with a class as it is.
Frequently asked questions
Do we use there is with uncountable nouns?
Yes: There is some water in the bottle. Uncountable nouns take a singular verb.
How do we make the short answers?
Yes, there is. / No, there isn’t. Yes, there are. / No, there aren’t.