What do I need to know about the English Adverb there + the being Verbs is and are
Surprisingly, not all modern languages have a present tense Being Verb. For example, Hebrew and Turkish do not; they have other methods of stating that an object or action exists.
Interestingly, the English language possesses two present tense Being Verbs, “is” and “are.” Both simply mean to be. Despite possessing the same definition, they can’t be used conversely.
Remember, the Being Verb “Is” is used with all singular Nouns, but “are” is used with plural Nouns. For example, you may encounter a native English speaker saying the sentence below.
There is a black cat over there.
By saying this, the speaker is telling the listener that there is a (singular) black cat nearby.
Notice that there’s a direct relationship between the Being Verb and the Noun. And so, if the noun is plural, “are” is used. Here’s an example:
There are black cats over there.
By saying this, the speaker is telling the listener that there are black cats nearby.
The function of “there” as the first word of the sentence
What is the purpose of placing “there” as the first word of a sentence? When “there” is used in sentences like: “there are cats over there”
it’s somewhat of an anomaly. The word “there” serves no function.
Grammatically speaking “there” contributes nothing to the sentence. To explain, the sentence “There are black cats over there” is analogous to :
Black cats are over there.
And, the sentence “There is a black cat over there” communicates the same idea (a relationship between the listener and a cat) as :
A black cat is over there.
In fact, “there” in the above sentences is somewhat of an anomaly, it’s not even part of the Subject (in regards to SVO).
Examples There is/are
There is a zoo near our house.
There are children over there.
Let’s practice
Q1: Try making your own sentence.
Q2: Do you store food in your apartment?
Q3: How many people are living in your house?
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