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There Is / There Are in English: How to Say Something Exists (Present and Past)
There is (singular) and there are (plural) are the two ways to say something exists in English, and they do change based on number.
Written by Bryan López, Profesor de inglés · Updated
There is and there are are used to say that something exists. There is goes with singular (There is a book on the table), there are goes with plural (There are two books on the table). There was and there were are the same forms in the past.
There is / there are (present)
There was / there were (past)
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Practice there is / there are with real audio
Interactive exercises, real pronunciation, and the full lesson taught in English.
There's exists, there're doesn't
"There is" can be contracted to "there's" (There's a book on the table). "There are" has NO contraction: "there're" isn't a real word and isn't used. The past doesn't contract either, there was and there were are always said in full.
With a list of things, it matches the first one
When you mention several things in a row, there is/are matches the FIRST item in the list, not the total: "There is a book and two pens on the table" (uses "is" because "a book" is singular, even though there are three items in total).
Common mistakes learners make
In some languages, the equivalent of "there is/are" never changes, no matter how many things there are. Because of that, it's common to use "there is" for everything, without switching to "there are" when the noun is plural. In English you do have to switch: there is only for singular, there are for plural.
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Frequently asked questions
What's the difference between there is and there are?
There is is used with singular nouns (There is a cat), there are is used with plurals (There are two cats). Both mean something exists.
How do you use there was and there were?
They're the past of there is/there are: there was for singular (There was a party), there were for plural (There were many people).
Can you say "there're"?
No. "There is" contracts to "there's," but "there are" has no contracted form, it's always said in full.
How do you ask questions with there is/there are?
You invert the order: Is there...? for singular, Are there...? for plural. In the past: Was there...? / Were there...?
How do you make there is/there are negative?
By adding not: there is not (there isn't), there are not (there aren't). In the past: there wasn't, there weren't.
Why do learners mix up there is and there are?
Because in many languages, the equivalent of "there is/are" never changes between singular and plural. In English you have to choose there is or there are based on the noun that follows.
Practice there is / there are with real audio
Interactive exercises, real pronunciation, and the full lesson taught in English.