Englishclub: There is/There are

There will be a party at Bill's house on Saturday.

There were four witnesses at the crime scene.

There have been two robberies in the last five months.

Contractions are possible, but they are mostly used informally in speech.

There's a fly in my soup.

There're plenty of oranges left.

There'll be a lot of people in attendance.

There's is by far the most common contraction, and it is sometimes used inadvertently with plural subjects by native speakers.

There's ten people outside!

Common mistakes Since the expression there is/are usually has no equivalent in other languages, students sometimes use have instead.

Have a lot of food on the table.
It has a lot of food on the table.
There have a lot of food on the table.
There is a lot of food on the table.

(Incorrect)
(Incorrect)
(Incorrect)
(Correct)

2. There a snake in the window.

3. There a zebra in the grass.

4. There lions in the zoo, too.

5. There many baby lions near their parents.

6. There a bird next to the tree.

7. There many monkeys in the trees.

8. There an elephant in the zoo.

9. There some water in the lake near the elephants.

10. There birds in the zoo.

11. There many people visiting the animals today.

12. There many children, too.

13. There a gorilla in the tree.

14. There some grass under the tree.

15. There bananas in the tree with the gorilla.

16. There many birds near the gorilla.

17. There a rock near the tree.

18. There many sharks in the aquarium.

19. There an eel in the aquarium, too.

20. There lots of water for the fish.

21. There many animals to see at the zoo.

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