THERE IS / THERE ARE
“There is” and “there are” mean that something exists. “There is” is used with singular subjects whereas “there are” is used with plural subjects. “There” can be used in this way with different forms of verb TO BE.
Note: We usually pronounce “there is” / dır iz / , not /der iz /.
There + is + singular noun + preposition of place There + are + plural noun + preposition of place | CONTRACTIONS There is = There’s There are = There’re |
AFFIRMATIVE STATEMENTS | |||
THERE | BE | SUBJECT | |
There | is | a book | on the table |
There | are | books | on the table |
NEGATIVE STATEMENTS | |||
THERE | BE | SUBJECT | |
There | isn’t | a book | on the table |
There | aren’t | books | on the table |
YES/NO QUESTIONS | SHORT ANSWERS | ||||
BE | THERE | SUBJECT | POSITIVE | NEGATIVE | |
Is | there | a book | on the table ? | Yes, there is. | No, there isn’t. |
Are | there | books | on the table? | Yes, there are. | No, there aren’t. |
Example sentences:
- There are four women at the bus-stop.
- There is a big spoon near the plate.
- There are five waitresses in the restaurant.
- There are beautiful houses on that street.
- There isn’t a loaf of bread in the basket.
- There isn’t a notebook in your bag.
- There isn’t an airport in Demirci.
- There aren’t ten pics on the wall.
- There are no people on the beach.
A: Is there a map on the wall?
B: Yes, there is.
A: Are there good cinemas in your town?
B: Yes, there are.
A: Is there a Chinese restaurant in your city?
B: No, there isn’t, but there is an Italian restaurant.
A: Is there a post office near here?
B: Yes, there is. It is next to the bank.
A: What is there on the shelf?
B: There is a notebook, three books and five CDs on the shelf.
A: Are there flights before 5 am?
B: No, there aren’t. All flights are after 5 am.
A: Are there high mountains in Switzerland?
B: Yes, there are.
NOTE: If the first noun in the list of things is singular, we must use “there is.”
- In my neighborhood, there is an outdoor swimming pool and two parks. (There are …)
- Elementary Level
- “Some and any” are determiners and they express an indefinite quantity or number. They are both used with countable and countable nouns. “Some” is often used in affirmative statements.
SOME / ANY
SOME | ANY | |
AFFIRMATIVE | * | |
NEGATIVE | * | |
QUESTION | * | |
COUNTABLE | * | * |
UNCOUNTABLE | * | * |
EXPLANATIONS:
SOME & ANY : “Some and any” are determiners and they express an indefinite quantity or number. “Some and Any” are used when it is not easy, necessary or important to say exactly how many / how much we want to mean. They are both used with countable and countable nouns. “Some” is often used in affirmative statements.
1SOME + COUNTABLE NOUNS In this case, “some” means “ a few”.
- There are some postcards in my briefcase.
- There are some students in the classroom.
- There are some cherries in the basket.
- There are some mistakes in the list
2 SOME + UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS
- There is some dust on the floor.
- There is some cheese in the fridge.
- There is some fruit in the basket.
- There is some fish on the plate.
3 ANY + COUNTABLE NOUNS
“Any” is often used in negative sentences and questions.
- There aren’t any people on the moon.
- There aren’t any skyscrapers in our town.
- There are not any empty chairs for the guests.
- Are there any doctors in your family?
- Yes, there are some doctors in my family.
- No, there aren’t any doctors in my family.
4 ANY + UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS
- There isn’t any milk in the bottle.
- There isn’t any honey at home.
- There isn’t any cold water here.
- Is there any bread on the table?
- Yes, there is some bread on the table.
- No, there isn’t any bread on the table.
NOTE: In a negative sentence, we can use “no” in place of “not any”; However, “no” can also be used with countable singular nouns. When “no” is used, the verb is always positive.
- There aren’t any wild animals in the forest. (=There are no wild animals in the forest.)
- There isn’t any milk at home. (= There is no milk at home.)
- What date is your birthday?
- What's the date today?
- The commonest way to write the day’s date
- Read the instructions
DATES
WRITING THE DATE
In Britain, the commonest way to write the day’s date is as follows. Note that the names of the months always begin with capital letters.
19 December 1973 2 May 1965 23 January 1998
The last two letters of the number word (st, nd, rd or th) are sometimes added. Some people write a comma before the year, but this is not very common.
23rd January, 1996 He was born on 23 January, 1998.
The date may be written entirely in figures.
23/04/05 23-04-2005 23.04.2005
NOTE: In America, People put the month first and they put a comma before the year.
March 30, 1995 June 13, 2897 September 6, 1992
This may sometimes cause some confusion.
6.4.1994 means “6 April 1994” in Britain and “June 4, 1994” in the USA.
READING THE DATE:
To ask about the dates, we can say for instance,
- What’s the date today?
- What date is your birthday?
30 March, 1993 March 30, 1995 2 November, 1975 17 January, 2005 | The thirtieth of March, nineteen ninety-three March the thirtieth, nineteen ninety-three The second of November, nineteen seventy-five The seventeenth of January, two thousand and five |
- Elementary Level
- What is the meaning of "a.m." and "p.m."?
- Where do we use "a.m." and "p.m."?
- a.m. = ante meridiem = before noon
- p.m. = post meridiem = after the previous noon
Time in words | 12 hour clock |
seven o’clock in the evening | 7:00 p.m. |
quarter to ten in the morning | 9:45 a.m. |
twenty past two in the afternoon | 2:20 p.m. |
quarter past ten in the evening | 10:15 a.m. |
midnight | 12:00 a.m. |
midday | 12:00 p.m. |
quarter past two in the morning | 2:15 a.m. |
half past eleven in the evening | 11:30 p.m. |
quarter past eight in the morning | 8:15 a.m. |
quarter to seven in the morning | 6:45 a.m. |
twenty past seven in the morning | 7:20 a.m. |
quarter past nine in the evening | 9:15 p.m. |
quarter to nine in the evening | 8:45 p.m. |
half past ten in the morning | 10:30 a.m. |
ten past seven in the evening | 7:10 p.m. |
twenty to two in the morning | 1:40 a.m. |
ten to two in the afternoon | 1:50 p.m. |
seventeen minutes past four in the afternoon | 4:17 p.m. |
- What time is it?
- What is the time, please?
- o'clock, half past, quarter to, quarter past, ten past, five to...
- Read and Practise
WHAT TIME IS IT?
O’CLOCK | |
|---|---|
| 3:00: | Three o’clock |
| 8:00: | Eight o’clock. |
| 11:00: | Eleven o’clock |
| 5:00: | Five o’clock |
| HALF PAST | |
|---|---|
| 8:30: | Eight thirty or half past eight |
| 12:30: | Twelve thirty or Half past twelve |
| 2:30: | Two thirty or half past two |
| 7:30: | Seven thirty or half past seven |
PAST | |
|---|---|
| 8:05: | Eight oh five or five past eight |
| 1:10: | One ten or ten past eight |
| 4:23: | Four twenty three or Twenty three past four |
| 5:03: | Nine oh three or three past nine |
TO | |
|---|---|
| 8:35: | Eight thirty-five or twenty five to nine |
| 12:56: | Twelve fifty six or four to one |
| 9:46: | Nine forty six or fourteen to ten |
| 1:31: | One thirty one or twenty nine to two |
A QUARTER TO | |
|---|---|
| 9:45: | Nine forty five or a quarter to ten |
| 2:45: | Two Forty five or a quarter to three |
A QUARTER PAST | |
|---|---|
| 3:15: | Three fifteen or a quarter past three |
| 7:15: | Seven fifteen or a quarter past seven |
- Cardinal Numbers: one, two, three,...
- Ordinal Numbers: first, second, third, ...
- Numbers Quiz
- Ordinal Numbers Quiz
EXPRESSIONS WITH NUMBERS
CARDINAL NUMBERS 1. One 2. Two 3. Three 4. Four 5. Five 6. Six 7. Seven 8. Eight 9. Nine 10. Ten 11. Eleven 12. Twelve 13. Thirteen 14. Fourteen 15. Fifteen 16. Sixteen 17. Seventeen 18. Eighteen 19. Nineteen 20. Twenty 21. Twenty-one 22. Twenty-two 23. Twenty-three 30. Thirty 40. Forty 50. Fifty 60. Sixty 70. Seventy 80. Eighty 90. Ninety 100 One/a hundred 101 One/a hundred and one 1000 One/a thousand 10000 ten thousand | ORDINAL NUMBERS 1st First 2nd Second 3rd Third 4th Fourth 5th Fifth 6th Sixth 7th Seventh 8th Eighth 9th Ninth 10th Tenth 11th Eleventh 12th twelfth 13th thirteenth 14th Fourteenth 15th Fifteenth 16th Sixteenth 17th Seventeenth 18th Eighteenth 19th Nineteenth 20th Twentieth 21st Twenty-first 22nd Twenty-second 23rd Twenty-third 30th Thirtieth 40th Fortieth 50th Fiftieth 60th Sixtieth 70th Seventieth 80th Eightieth 90th Ninetieth 100th Hundredth 101st Hundred and first 1000th thousandth 10000th ten thousandth |
- Test yourself
- Giving Directions
- Commonly used questions
- Online player
- Read, Listen, Watch and Practise
GIVING DIRECTIONS
Commonly used questions:
- Excuse me, where is the post office, please?
- Excuse me, is there a post office near here?
- Excuse me, can you tell me the way to the post office, please?
- Excuse me, how can I get to the post office, please?
- Excuse me, can you direct me to the post office, please?
Commonly used expressions:
The post office is | on the right. on the left. on your right/on your left. next to the cinema. between the cinema and the park. opposite the park. at the end of the street. at the corner. the second building on the left. |
- Go straight ahead/Go straight on.
- Turn right/Turn left.
- Go down the Fatih street/ Go up the Fatih street.
- Walk down the Fatih street/Walk up the Fatih street.
- Cross the Fatih street.
- Walk along the Fatih street/walk along this street.
- Keep going this street.
- Walk to the traffic lights.
- Turn right at the end of the street.
- Turn left at the crossroads.
- Take the first turning on the right.
- Take the second turning on the left.
- Walk past the post office.
- Turn right by the post office.
- What time is it? What's the time, please?
- Have you got the time?
- What time do you make it?
- Do you have the time?
- Could you tell me the time?
| Alternative 1 | |
| Student 1: | Excuse me. What time do you make it? |
| Student 2: | It's 5.00. |
| Student 1: | Thank you. |
| Student 2: | You're welcome. |
| Alternative 2 | |
| Student 1: | Excuse me. Do you have the time? |
| Student 2: | It's 5.00. |
| Student 1: | Thank you. |
| Student 2: | You're welcome. |
| Alternative 3 | |
| Student 1: | Excuse me. Have you got the time? |
| Student 2: | It's 5.00. |
| Student 1: | Thank you. |
| Student 2: | You're welcome. |
| Alternative 4 | |
| Student 1: | Excuse me. What time is it? |
| Student 2: | It's 5.00. |
| Student 1: | Thank you. |
| Student 2: | You're welcome. |
| Alternative 5 | |
| Student 1: | Excuse me. What's the time? |
| Student 2: | It's 5.00. |
| Student 1: | Thank you. |
| Student 2: | You're welcome. |
| Alternative 6 | |
| Student 1: | Excuse me. Could you tell me the time? |
| Student 2: | It's 5.00. |
| Student 1: | Thank you. |
| Student 2: | You're welcome. |