In our last Grammar Basics, we looked at the phrase “There is / are…” For the simple past tense of this phrase, we have:
There was…. (singular) // There were… (plural).
There wasn’t (was not)…. (singular) // There weren’t (were not)… (plural).
There was an accident at the train station.
There were a lot of people at the concert.
Was there a baseball game on TV today?
There weren’t (were not) any parking spaces in that lot.
There wasn’t any sale on eggs at the grocery store.
For the present perfect, we have:
There has been…(singular) // There have been…(plural).
There hasn’t been (has not been)…(singular) // There haven’t been (have not been)…(plural).
Waiter, there’s been (there has been) some sort of mistake. I ordered steak, not fish.
There have been a lot of tornadoes lately.
Have there been any phone calls for me this morning?
There hasn’t been any rain for the past month.
There haven’t been any complaints for our department for three weeks now – good job!
For the future, we have:
There will be…
There won’t (will not) be…
Are you coming to the reunion? There will be a live jazz band.
Will there be dancing? – Yes, so be sure to wear your dancing shoes.
There won’t be (there will not be) any school next Monday. It’s a holiday.
Exercises. Complete the sentences using there + is / are / was / were / has been / have been / will be.
Example:
__________ some nice apples at Tom’s Apple Orchard this year. ==> There are some nice apples at Tom’s Apple Orchard this year.
1. __________ an unusual number of bees this summer.
2. __________ DVDs and CDs available for checkout at the library.
3. Luckily, __________ one vacancy left at the Sleepy Hollow Motel.
4. __________ roll call early tomorrow morning, so make sure you get a good night’s sleep.
5. __________ 22 boys and 20 girls in my graduating class.
6. __________ nothing as good as Mom’s cooking.
7. The Farmer’s Almanac says __________ a cold winter next year.
8. __________ a black bear in the back yard when I got up this morning.
9. Guess what? __________ an earthquake in California.
10. __________ no use crying over spilled milk.
Exercises. Complete the sentence using there + is / are / was / were / has been / have been / will be, and make the sentences negative.
Example:
I looked high and low, but __________ any keys on the desk. ==> I looked high and low, but there weren’t any keys on the desk.
1. Are you sure __________ any milk left in the fridge?
2. Goldilocks went into the cabin, but there __________ a soul around.
3. __________ any customers all day.
4. __________ that many people at the nightclub last night.
5. __________ any pencils in my pencil cup. Please go to the supply room and get me a new pack.
6. I checked in the supply cabinet, but __________ any pencils.
7. __________ even one pack left? I thought I had ordered some.
8. No, there __________ any pencils in the supply cabinet for a whole month.
9. You’d better lock your desk, then, when you leave for the night. Apparently __________ a pencil thief here lately.
10. Whoever’s been taking the pencils had better come clean, or __________ trouble in River City!