Demonstrative pronouns & the use of “there is/ there are”
DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS
Demonstrative pronoun points towards the noun it replaces, indicating it in time, space, and distance. It can be singular or plural; it may be a near demonstrative, “this, that” or a far demonstrative, “that, those”.
THIS AND THESE
“This” used in the singular, whereas “these” in plural.
| use of “this” and “these” | example |
|---|---|
| to introduce people | Andy, this is Steve. These are my sisters, Brenda and Kate. |
| to talk about something being nearby | This chair is very comfortable. These trousers are narrow to me. |
| to talk about something occurring soon | We’re having a class reunion this weekend. |
| to introduce oneself over the phone | Hello. This is Meg. Can I speak to Tom, please? |
THAT AND THOSE
“That” used in the singular, whereas “those” in plural.
| use of “this” and “these” | example |
|---|---|
| talk about something being afar off | That house over there belongs to my family. Those people were aggressive. |
| talk about something being far away in time | Do you remember that winter of 1986? |
| confirm the identity of the person we cannot see | Is that you darling? |
THAT’S GREAT!
We use “that” in many other expressions – answers to what one’s said before:
I’ve bought a car at least! That’s great!
So you’re married? That’s right!
FORM
We can use the structure “there is/ there are” in every of Simple Tenses and construction “be going to”.
| simple tense or construction | example |
|---|---|
| simple present | There’s a huge spider in here! |
| simple past | There were five of them. |
| future simple | There will be lots of people, I think. |
| present perfect | There has been an accident. |
| be going to | There’s going to be a concert here. |
Affirmative sentences
The verb “to be”must match the form (singular or plural) of the noun that follows it.
There is/was appears in the singular:
There’s a florist opposite the cinema.
There was a strong wind yesterday.
There’s going to be a short break.
There are/were refers to nouns in the plural:
There are two banks in this village.
There were at least two people dead.
There are going to be many children there.
Questions
Questions are created by inverting a word order in a sentence:
There’s some milk in the fridge.
Is there any milk in the fridge?
There were many policemen at the station.
Were there many policemen at the station?
To questions beginning with “Is/ Are/ Was/ Were there...” we should answer with short:
Yes, there is (was, are, were).
No, there isn’t (wasn’t, aren’t, weren’t).
Is there any soup left? No, there isn’t.
Were there any Stephen King’s books in the library? Yes, there were.
Negative sentences
We create negative sentences by adding “not” to the verb “to be”:
There isn’t much money left.
There won’t be any time to buy sandwiches.
USAGE
We use the structure “there is” and “there are” when we want to say that something exists or is located in some place or time:
There were only a few houses in this town 200 years ago.
There are five apple trees in my garden.
There’s a hole in your jacket.
This structure always introduces new information so that it cannot be used with the definite article “the”, but only with the indefinite article “a/an”, numeral or with the expression “some/any”.
There’s a new zebra in the zoo.
There are three chairs in this room.
Definite noun preceded by a particular article “the” function as a subject and do not require structure “there is/ are”:
The new zebra is in its enclosure.
The three chairs were bought at the Teak Garden.
