Use Of There + To Be To Express Existence
Juliana Bortoliero Palazetti
Hello everyone! Welcome back to my English lesson video. Today, we're going to learn about using there with the verb to be to express existence.Use of There + To Be To Express ExistenceThe structure there + to be is used to indicate the existence or presence of something. It's a common way to introduce a new subject or topic in a sentence. The word there in this structure is not referring to a place; it's used as a placeholder.Here's how it works:There + to be (present tense) + subjectThere is a book on the table.There are many stars in the sky.There + to be (past tense) + subjectThere was a party last night.There were many people at the concert.Note that the verb to be agrees with the subject that follows it, not with the word there.Examples:- There is a new restaurant in town.- There are three apples in the basket.- There was a lot of traffic this morning.- There were many students in the library yesterday.You can also use this structure in questions and negative sentences:- Is there a problem?- There isn't (isn't = is not) a problem.- Were there any issues?- There weren't (weren't = were not) any issues.Using there with the verb to be is a simple and effective way to introduce new information or topics in your English conversations and writing. Practice this structure, and you'll be able to express existence in a natural and fluent way.