There Is, There Are, There Was, There Were — Explanation

Learn how to use there is, there are, there was, and there were to talk about things that exist now or in the past. Simple A1 grammar rules and examples!

There is/there are and there was/there were are ways to say that something is or was in a place.

THERE IS / THERE ARE

 Present (now)

These forms help us talk about things that are happening right now.

Form	Use	Example
There is	singular nouns	There is a cat on the chair.
There’s	short form of there is	There’s a book on the table.
There are	plural nouns	There are three apples in the basket.

Examples:

• There is a dog in the garden.
• There are many students in the class.
• There is some milk in the fridge.

THERE WAS / THERE WERE

 Past (before)

We use these forms to talk about things that happened or were there in the past.

Form	Use	Example
There was	singular nouns	There was a car outside yesterday.
There were	plural nouns	There were many people at the park.

Examples:

• There was a big storm last night.
• There were two cats in our garden yesterday.
• There was no milk in the fridge this morning.

Summary Table

Time	Singular	Plural
Present	there is	there are
Past	there was	there were

Tips

• Use there’s in spoken English for there is. There’s a problem with my computer.
• Don’t use it is for existence — use there is instead. Incorrect: It is a book on the desk. Correct: There is a book on the desk.

Examples for Practice

• There is a shop near my house.
• There are two windows in my room.
• There was a party last night.
• There were many cars on the street.

In short:

Use there was / there were → for things that existed in the past.

Use there is / there are → for things that exist now.

There is There Was Exercises

At the bottom of this page, you'll find a short list of activities made just for people who are looking for there is there was exercises. These will help you understand how these structures work in both the present and the past. You can practice using "there is," "there are," "there was," and "there were" in simple sentences with the three exercises. This will help you see the difference between using them in the present, past, and future. This practice section is perfect for A1 students who want to quickly and easily improve their grammar.