THERE IS, THERE ARE, SOME and ANY

In English grammar we use “there is” or “there are” to talk about things we can see and things that
exist.

THERE IS / THERE ARE

We use there is for singular and uncountable nouns,
and we use there are for plural countable nouns.

“There are five people in the office.” (plural countable noun)

“There’s a television in the living room.” (singular countable noun)
“There’s some milk in the fridge.” (uncountable noun)

USING SOME
With plural countable nouns we can either give the quantity (“five people”) or use “some” if we
don’t know the exact quantity.
“There are five people in the office.” (We can see five people exactly)
“There are some people in the office.” (We don’t know exactly how many people)

With uncountable nouns we also use “some”.

“There’s some milk in the fridge,” (I don’t know the exact quantity.)
“There’s some money in my wallet.” (I don’t know exactly how much money.)

!!! With singular countable nouns we use a/an, the, or another determiner or pronoun – not “some”.
“There’s a woman in the shop.”
“There’s the woman who works in the hospital.”
“There’s my sister in the photo.”

NEGATIVE FORM AND USING ANY

There are two ways to form the negative:

1. Add not or n’t to the end of the verb.

“There isn’t a freezer in the kitchen.” (singular, countable noun)
“There isn’t any money in my wallet.” (uncountable noun)
“There aren’t any students” in the classroom. (plural noun)
For uncountable nouns, use “any” after the negative “isn’t”, and for plural countable nouns use
“any” after “aren’t”.
!!! Do not use “any” with singular countable nouns.
“There isn’t a single biscuit left in the packet.” (Not “There isn’t any single biscuit left in the
packet.”)

2. Use “no” after “there is” or “there are”.

“There is no freezer in the kitchen.” (singular countable noun)
“There are no students in the classroom.” (plural noun)
“There’s no coffee left.” (uncountable noun)

However, it’s more common to use “isn’t + a” for singular countable nouns, “isnt + any” for
uncountable nouns and “aren’t + any” for plural nouns.

QUESTION FORM
To make a question, change the word order from subject-verb to verb-subject:
“Is there a toilet on this train?”
“Is there any time to go shopping?”
“Are there any trains to London this morning?”

Short answer form

Yes, there is. / No there isn’t.
Yes there are. / No there aren’t.
Correct the errors.
1. There isn't some water in the glass.

2. There are a 3 children talking with the teacher.

3. Are there some cars in the car park?

4. Is there any windows in this classroom?

5. There aren't some pencils in the pencilcase.

6. There is some people in the backyard.

7. There are any stickers in the album? (Question)

8. There is any parsley? (Question)

Some or any?

1. Pan does not have …………….. pencils on her desk.

2. I have …………….. magazines for you.
3. There are …………….. apples on the table.
4. I have seen …………….. nice postcards in the souvenir shop.
5. She always takes …………….. sugar with her coffee.
6. Peter has bought …………….. new books.
7. We haven’t got …………….. oranges at the moment.
8. We need …………….. bananas.
9. You can’t buy …………….. posters in this shop.
10. There aren’t …………….. folders in my bag.

Fill in the blanks with a, an, some and any.

1. Are there …………….. girls in your football team?
2. Have you got …………….. paper clips?
3. Here, have …………….. nuts!
4. Is there …………….. sugar in my coffee?
5. My brother has got …………….. new jeans.
6. Are there …………….. apples on the tree in your garden?
7. Have we got …………….. butter?
8. They've got …………….. baby giraffe in the zoo.
9. I'm going to the market to buy …………….. fruit.
10. There isn't …………….. tea in the pot.
11. They can have …………….. bread and butter if they're hungry.
12. Are there …………….. eggs in the fridge?
13. There's …………….. policeman at the door.
14. Is there …………….. news about the plane crash?
15. There was …………….. accident on the bridge last night.
16. There are …………….. good films on at the moment.
17. My aunt is living in …………….. very nice house outside the city .
18. I can't brush my teeth because there isn't …………….. toothpaste left.
19. Let me give you …………….. advice.
20. There aren’t …………….. taxis here. You must walk down the street.