Grammar

Do you know when we use “There is” and “There are”? Watch a short explanation and repeat the example sentences after me.

When we want to say that something is in a certain place, we use “There is / There are”. If we talk about one thing, we use “There is.” For example: "There is a good cafe near here". If we talk about more than one thing, we use “There are.” For example: "There are local restaurants near here." We often use "some" in positive sentences with "there are", so we can say "There are some local restaurants near here".

There is a good cafe near here

There are some local restaurants near here

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ここに良いカフェがあります

ここに地元のレストランがいくつかあります

In negative sentences, we add the word “not” after “There is” and “There are.” After adding “not”, we usually use the short forms: “There isn’t” and “There aren’t.” These short forms are used most often in everyday English. For example: "There isn’t a good cafe near here." We often use "any" in negative sentences with "there isn't" and "There aren't", so we can say "There isn't any good cafe near here." or "There aren't any local restaurants near here".

There isn't an underground station near here

There aren't any local restaurants near here

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ここの近くに地下鉄の駅はありません

ここの近くには地元のレストランはありません

When we make questions with “There is" and "There are", we change the word order. We move "is" and "are" to the beginning of a sentence. So the question form of “There is a good cafe near here” is: “Is there a good cafe near here?” and the question form of “There are local restaurants near here” is: “Are there local restaurants near here?” In "yes" answers, we say "Yes, there is" and "Yes, there are". In "no" answers, we say "No, there isn’t" or "No, there aren't".

Is there a good cafe near here?

Are there any local restaurants near here?

__ _____ _ ____ ____ ____ ____?

___ _____ ___ _____ ___________ ____ ____?

ここの近くに良いカフェはありますか？

ここの近くに地元のレストランはありますか？