The turn ‘there be’ /‘there is/ there are’, …/ (hereinafter in the text the abbreviation - "THR" is used in the examples) is a deviation from the norm from the point of view of grammar. However, like many other deviations in English, it is regularly used in speech. It can be equally applied both in oral and written speech, both in an informal setting and in formal communication.
The use of this turnover is associated with a number of semantic and grammatical errors, such as semantic ones: identification with the impersonal sentence ‘it is …’, or the adverb /there/; grammatical: incorrect use of forms of the verb ‘be’, adding a verbal compliment to the predicate, etc.
Vs. ‘there/there’
What is the difference between ‘there is/ there are’ and ‘there’?
‘There’ is often a common adverb of place, answering the question “Where?”, “Where?”, for example:
Are you comfortable there?/ Are you comfortable there?
The book is there on the table/ The book is there on the table.
In this case, it gets a semantic accent, because itreflects the main "intrigue" of the statement.
However, ‘there’ can also act as a relative subject, and not as an indication of place. This means that it becomes a pronoun that nominally assumes the role of the subject, while the semantic subject is located as the object of the predicate. The semantic subject can be put instead of ‘THR’ without prejudice to grammar and general meaning. The only thing is that some semantic connotation will be lost. In this turn, the pronoun ‘THR’ is not stressed and is pronounced casually.
Thus, /THR is/THR are/ is used to introduce new information and focus attention on it.
Vs.‘it is’
What is the difference between the phrase ‘there is/ there are’ and the formal pronoun ‘it’ in the impersonal sentence ‘it is’? To do this, you need to briefly consider the theme and rheme. A topic is a background part that does not provide fundamental information; rheme is a key word (phrase) that plays a decisive role, which is emphasized. ‘it’ is a fictitious representative of a logically non-existent subject, or one that exists somewhere in the context, and the rheme here is what happens to it, or what state it is in, what features it has. Whereas ‘THR’ is the subject’s “warner”, which is semantically (logically) equivalent to the predicate’s complement, and the rheme is, as a rule, someone or something. That is, the focus is on presence, presence, perhaps number.
Not used with Continuous, personal pronouns as an object and in the passive voice (Passive V.)
In fact, the phrase 'there is/ there are' in English is a paraphrase of 'smth is', 'many are', where the verb 'be' appears in its semantic meaning - "to have a place", "to be", "to be", "to be present", "to exist", "to occur". That is why it is not used with constructions of the Continuous aspect group (respectively, the Perfect Continuous), and with the passive voice. For the same reason, it is not customary to use it with personal pronouns - it would sound like /THR am I / I am /, /THR are they / They are /, which is already implied, and therefore does not carry fundamentally new information, and is semantically meaningless.
Using rule for ‘there is/ there are’
It follows that the construction can be used with:
- nouns with dependent words;
- numerals;
- indefinite pronouns.
In the following constructions (only in the active voice):
- in all four tenses;
- in indefinite and perfect aspects.
The relative subject ‘There’ can be used in different time-aspect constructions. However, it is usually referred to simply as ‘there is/there are’ to shorten the time. The construction scheme for all constructions is as follows: the pronoun ‘There’ opens the sentence. It is followed by the auxiliary verb ‘be’ in one oftheir forms, depending on the situation; the auxiliary verb is followed by a noun with dependent words (if any), i.e. noun group.
THR is work to be done.
THR will be a party tonight/
THR was no damage/ There was no danger.
THR have been two telephone calls
Turnover ‘there is/there are’ in singular and plural
When the noun group after the verb is in the plural, you need to use the plural form of the verb:
THR are many reasons for this/
THR were two men in the room
We also use plural verbs before phrases denoting relative empirical remarks, such as 'a number (of)/a certain number', 'a lot (of)'/many, 'a few (of)/ several':
THR were a lot of people camped there.
THR are only a few left/
If the noun in the group is in the singular or it is uncountable, then the verb is used in the same form, respectively:
THR is one point we must add here.
THR isn't enough room in here.
The singular verb is also put if the sentenceseveral objects or persons are mentioned, but the first noun following the verb is in singular. number, or is uncountable:
THR was a man and a woman
THR was a sofa and two chairs
Instances of use
Turnaround ‘there be’ (‘there is/ there are’, …) we use when we say:
- About the existence or presence of people, objects:
THR are two people who might know what happened.
- About something that happened:
THR's a meeting every week
THR was a fierce battle
- About number or quantity:
THR are forty of us, I think
Modal verbs
The phrase 'there is/there are' can also include modal verbs followed by 'be', 'have been' (beyond those for future and future in the past):
THR could be a problem
THR should be a change in government.
THR can't have been anybody outside.
THR must have been some mistake.
Abbreviations
The turn ‘there is/there are’ in English in a colloquial speech or informal situation allows the contraction of the verb ‘be’ or the modal verb andadjoining it to 'there' through an apostrophe ("'s" - 'is' or 'has', "'re" 'are', "'ll" - 'shall' or 'will', "'ve" - 'have ', "'d" - 'had', 'should' or 'would'):
THR's no danger
THR'll always be a future for music
I knew THR'd be trouble.
THR’s been quite a lot of research into it.
I didn't even know THR'd been a murder.
‘Appear to be’
Also, in addition to the existential verb 'be' - that is, having the meaning of "to be", "to occur", - the less unambiguous "it seems to be the place to be", "there is a feeling that is happening …" and to that similar phrases with verbs like 'appear' and 'seem':
THR appears to be a vast amount of confusion on this point.
THR seems to have been some carelessness.
