Imagine you want to describe your neighborhood, town or city and tell your classmates and friends what you can find there. How do you do it? What word or words do you need? In English, we have two expressions that will help you express the existence or nonexistence of something or someone. 'There is' is used to express that something or someone exists and it is used only to express singular sentences. 'There are' is also used to express that something or someone exists but it is used in plural sentences. Take a look at the next description about a small town in Puebla State, Mexico.
San Martín Texmelucan.
Hi, my friends. Today I am talking about my beautiful and incomparable town of San Martín Texmelucan. It is a small town in Puebla State located near the capital city and the state of Tlaxcala. There are many things you can do there, mostly to be in contact with nature. For example, there is a small hill, named “Cerro del Totolqueme” where you can go hiking, take a walk, do exercise or go sightseeing. There are also beautiful trees, flowers and small animals like squirrels, lizards and butterflies. There is a small archeological site named “Los Cerritos”. There are 9 small pyramids made of stone and volcanic rocks in that place.
San Martín has three main “haciendas”. But the most important and famous one is “Ex-hacienda de Chautla”. It is a beautiful place with big green areas. There is a small lake. There is a castle-like mansion and a small museum. There are cabins where you can camp and enjoy the starry sky. You can also fish there, there are lots of trouts and if you are lucky to catch one, you can cook it and eat it in your cabin or near the lake. Outside the Hacienda, there is a hotel and there are many rooms to stay in if you do not want to sleep in a cabin or in a tent.
San Martín Texmelucan is a small town, but I am sure you can find anything you need to have a great lifestyle. There is a cinema, there is a market, there are two shopping malls. What I like about my town is that there are a lot of small shops and stores where you can find anything you need. There are many antique houses and buildings that you can visit and there are many churches, as well. Anyway, I love my town and I would never change it.
As you can see, we use “There is” and “There are” to express what kind of things or places exist in a neighborhood, a town, a city or a place. Do you remember that we use the verb to be to express also location or the place one is? We use “to be” in these expressions as well, in singular and plural. Let’s review the following chart:
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There + be
We use it to express the existence of someone or something.
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| AFFIRMATIVE STATEMENTS | |
| SINGULAR | PLURAL |
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| When we use this expression, we need to use an article "a" or "an". | When we use this expression, you can use numbers or words like some, a lot of, etc. to express quantity. |
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There + be + not
We use it to express the nonexistence of someone or something.
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| NEGATIVE STATEMENTS | |
| SINGULAR | PLURAL |
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| To make negative statements you need to add "not" to the expression "there is". You can have two forms: "There is not" or "There isn’t". Both forms are correct. | To make negative statements you need to add "not" to the expression "there are". You can have two forms: "There are not" or "There aren’t". Both forms are correct. |
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Be + there …?
We use it to ask about the existence or nonexistence or someone or something.
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| INTERROGATIVE STATEMENTS | |
| SINGULAR | PLURAL |
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| To make interrogative statements you just need to write the verb to be at the beginning. And you can answer according to the verb or the quantity as in the examples above. | |
Read the text about "San Martín Texmelucan" again and choose the correct option.
| True | False | Not mentioned | |
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1. There are many places where you can watch a film. |
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2. There isn’t a museum in that place. |
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3. There are archeological sites. |
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4. There is a huge flea market. |
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5. There are places where you can buy different kinds of things. |
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Prepositions of place
When we want to talk about the location of a place, an object or a person, we need to use some prepositions of place to say exactly where someone or something is. These prepositions help us to have in mind the exact location or the whereabouts of the place or person we are looking for. Study the following chart to know more about the prepositions of place.
For example. Look at the following map and read the sentences below to understand better the prepositions of place.
- Mediateca is next to the IT Center.
- The principal’s office is between building J and M.
- The library is behind building K.
- The medical department building is in front of the basketball courts.
So, when someone asks you "Are there any bathrooms in the school?" you can answer "Yes, there are. They are in building N." or "Where is the principal’s office?" your answer would be "It is next to building O." Now, you have more useful expressions to talk about location in your school, neighborhood or city.
Imagine you are visiting a friend for the second time. You have some questions to ask about the city. Look at the following city map and write the correct answers.
