How to translate there isn't a. English phrases There is and There are

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Here you can take a lesson on the topic: English phrases There is and There are. English phrases There is and There are.

In English there is a special form of expressing the arrangement of things. For these purposes they are used rpm there is And there are. In this lesson we will look at in what cases and how to use these phrases correctly, as well as some of their distinctive features.

In Russian, we literally translate the phrase there is/ there are - there is, but it is believed that sentences starting with such a phrase are better translate from the end omitting the word "there". For example:

There is one chair in the room. - There (is) one chair in the room.
There are some chairs in the room. - There (are) several chairs in the room.

1. The English quite often use the phrase there is/there are, mainly to mark where and what is located, so the location is present in the sentence. The phrase itself there is/ there are is customary to put at the beginning of a sentence. Let's look at examples:

There is a knife on the table. - There (is, lies) a knife on the table.
There are five balls in the box. - There (are) five balls in the box.

Please note that the phrase there is is used before subjects singular, and there are - in front of the subjects in plural. Order affirmative proposals next: Subject (There) - Predicate (to be) - Object (Object) - Circumstance (Adverbial modifier).

Often in sentences with the phrase there is/ there are used in addition numerals, articles or indefinite pronouns. For example:

There is a cup of tea on the table. - There (is) a cup of tea on the table.
There is one stove in the kitchen. - There (is) one stove in the kitchen.

There is some furniture in the hall. - There (are) some furniture in the hall.

There are six couples in the game. - There (are, participate in) six pairs in the game.
There are some houses nearby. - There (are) several houses nearby.

As can be seen from the examples, with countable objects in the singular, you can use the numeral one, or the indefinite article a/an; with uncountable nouns (for example, furniture) the indefinite pronoun some is usually used; and with countable objects in the plural - any other numerals, or the indefinite pronoun some (also several - several).

Negative sentences with the phrase there is/ there are formed by adding the negative particle “not” to the verb to be. As a result, we get negative phrases there is not/ there are not, which can be reduced to the forms there isn't/ there aren't. Let's look at examples:

There isn't a door in this room. - There is no door in the room.
There isn't any milk in the refrigerator. - There is no milk in the refrigerator.
There aren't any people at the store. - There are no people in the store.

From the examples it is clear that in negative sentences, the pronoun some is replaced by the pronoun any. The same change occurs in interrogative sentences.

In many sentences with the phrase there is/there are, the word “no” is also often used to give the sentence a negative connotation. However, abbreviations in such phrases are not allowed. For example:

There is no ham on this sandwich. - There is no ham on this sandwich.
There are no palyers in this team. - There are no players in this team.

For creating questions with the phrase there is/ there are, it is enough to apply inversion, i.e. swap the subject with the predicate. For example:

Is there one TV in the bedroom? - Yes, there is. -No, there isn't. -Is there a TV in the bedroom? -Yes. -No.
Is there any sugar in the tea? -Yes, there is. -No, there isn't. -Is there sugar in tea? -Yes. -No.
Are there any windows in the castle? -Yes, there are. -No, there aren't." - Are there windows in the castle? - Yes. - No.

As can be seen from the examples, short answers to general questions also contain the phrase there is/there in the affirmative or negative form.

With the revolutions there is/ there are you can also build special questions with question words who? what? why? etc. (everything except the word where?). In such questions, interrogative words are put first, and then the sentence is constructed as in a general question. Let's look at examples:

What is there in your bag? - What (is) in your bag?
Why are there so many policemen in the bank? - Why are there so many police officers in the bank?
Who is there in your car? -Who's there in your car?
How many students are there in the classroom? - How many students are there in the class?

2. Special attention should be paid phonetic side there is/ there, as it contains some of the most difficult sounds in English to pronounce. These are the sounds /ð/ and /зə/. Try reading the following sentences, paying attention to pronunciation:

There is /ðзəiz/ a leather jacket in the car. - There (is) a leather jacket in the car.
There are /ðзəa:/ some bird feathers on the hat. - The hat (has) several bird feathers.

There isn't /ðзəiznt/ any water in the kitchen. - There is no water in the kitchen.
There aren't /ðзəa:nt/ any toothbrushes in the bathroom. - There are no toothbrushes in the bathroom.

Is there /izðзə:/ a book on the table? - Is there a book on the table?
Are there /a:ðзə:/any glasses in the cupboard? - Are there glasses in the kitchen cabinet?

3. The phrase there is/ there are is also used in past tense. Since the main verb in the phrase is the verb to be, then in the past tense the singular phrase is - there was, and the plural phrase is there were. Let's look at different forms of proposals:

There was a supermarket in this area of ​​the city. - There was a supermarket in this part of the city.
There were some interesting pistures in the gallery. - There were several interesting paintings in the gallery.

There wasn't a computer in the study. - There was no computer in the office.
There weren't any horses in the village. - There were no horses in the village.

Was there any food in the refrigerator? - Was there food in the refrigerator?
Were there any Italian restaurants in the city? - Were there any Italian restaurants in the city?

4. The phrases there is/ there are are often found in English proverbs and sayings.

There are none so blind as those that will not see. - There are none more blind than those who do not want to see.
There’s more than one way to skin a cat. - There is more than one way to skin a cat. / Not by washing, but by rolling.
There’s no bad weather, there are bad clothes. - There is no bad weather, only bad clothes.
There's no smoke without fire. - There is no smoke without fire.
There's no place like home. - There is no better place than home./ It’s good when visiting, but at home it’s better.
There's no time like the present. - There is no better time than now. / Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today.
There’s no such thing as a free lunch. - There are no free lunches./ Free cheese is only in a mousetrap.

Thus, we have become familiar with one of the most frequently used English phrases, there is/ there are, its general characteristics, as well as some grammatical and phonetic properties. Since the phrase there is/ there are is mainly used to indicate the location of various objects, you can practice composing your own sentences. Take a look around. What do you see? Where are the things you are used to? etc. The more examples you have, the better!

The phrase there is/there are is a speech construction that begins to be studied at the initial stage of learning English. If you need to talk about the location of an object or person, then you will need to use this phrase. The phrase there is/there are in English means “there is, is located.” But for a correct translation into Russian, you need to study some rules for handling this construction.

General concept

So, the phrase there is/there are is used quite often in English, since we constantly need to indicate the position of this or that object. And this phrase helps to do this in the best possible way. For example, you need to say that there are three doctors in a certain room.

With the help of turnover we get the following sentence: There are three doctors in the room. In this case, we draw your attention to the order of words in the sentence.

There is (thr is)

There are (thr are)

location

We see that the phrase begins with a phrase, then an object is indicated, and only at the end the place where this object (or person) is located is noted.

Why does the turnover look this way? What is the difference between thr is and thr are? The answer is simple. The first option is used to describe one object or person, and the second to describe two or more objects.

  • Thr is a dog on the bed. - A dog is sitting on the bed.
  • Thr are dogs on the bed. - There are dogs sitting on the bed.

There is/there are: translation into Russian

It is important to understand that the sentence in which this phrase is used cannot be translated literally. The correct way to do this is to start at the end of the sentence. This will make you sound beautiful in your native language.

  • Thr is a book on the table. - A book is on the table.
  • Thr are dogs in the yard. - There are dogs running in the yard.

I would like to note that the phrase there is/there are has several translation options. It all depends on the specific object and situation. When translating, the main thing is to maintain correctness and plausibility, and not to deviate from the norms of the literary language.

Temporal features

The next thing that needs to be said when discussing the phrase there is/there are is the different forms of the verb “to be” when the phrase is used in different tenses. As you know, the strong verb to be has many forms, and in our case, a different form is used in each time period.

Present tense

Past tense

Future

All of these forms can be part of this construction, since the phrase there is/there are can be used both in the present tense and in the past or future.

  • Thr is a kitten in the corner. - There is a kitten sitting in the corner.
  • Thr are students in the hall. - There are students in the hall.
  • Thr was a car near the shop. - There was a car near the store.
  • Thr were green trees in the center of the square. - There were green trees in the center of the square.
  • Thr will be a lot of pupils in the bus. - There will be many students on the bus.

We see from examples how the form of the verb changes and how the phrase changes. The translation style is also clearly visible: we change the meaning of the verb depending on the specific situation.

Questions, answers and denials

The phrase there is/there are, the rules of formation of which we discuss here, can be used not only in declarative sentences. We can also use it to pose questions, answer them and use it in negative constructions. Let's look at all these options in turn.

The construction of the question occurs by simple rearrangement of words. Depending on the type of question, the verb is placed in first or second place:

  • General question: Is thr a dog in the park? - Is there a dog in the park?
  • Special question: What is thr in the river? - What is there in the river?
  • Alternative question: Is thr a book or a pen in the bag? - Is there a book or pen in the bag?
  • Dividing question: Thr is a boy on the bench, is not there? - It's the boy on the bench, isn't it?

The answer to general or disjunctive questions using this phrase will be the option Yes, there is or No, there isn't (depending on the speaker's intention) or Yes, there are / No, there aren't, if the plural form was used in the sentence numbers.

Negative sentences can be constructed in two ways:

  • use of the negative particle not,
  • use of the pronoun no.

If we choose the first option, then in addition to the negative particle, we must use the pronoun any, which means the absence of something or someone.

  • Thr is not any dress in my room. - There is not a single dress in my room.
  • Thr are not any houses in this place. - There are no houses in this place.

By using the second option, we can do without unnecessary additional words, and the negative pronoun itself will relate more to the noun than to the verb:

  • Thr is no phone in my pocket. - There is no phone in my pocket.
  • Thr are no birds in this forest. - There are no birds in this forest.

Important points in using there is/there are

Translation into Russian of such a phrase is not the only feature that should be taken into account. There are a few more points that should not be forgotten when using this phrase. There are variants of proposals when we need to indicate the location of not one object, but several, that is, apply an enumeration. In this case, the following rule will apply: when listing several objects or people, you need to take into account the word that is located immediately after the phrase itself. The choice of verb form will depend on it:

  • Thr is a book, 2 pens and a bag on the sofa. - On the sofa there is a book, two pens and a bag.
  • Thr are 2 pens, a book and a bag on the sofa. - There are two pens, a book and a bag on the sofa.

This is easy to understand and remember, since in Russian this construction also looks different (lie, lie).

It is also worth remembering about nouns that can be countable and uncountable. If a word cannot have a plural form, then only the form suitable for the singular should be placed in front of it, regardless of the accompanying words:

  • Thr is a lot of water in this glass. - There is a lot of water in this glass (water does not have a plural).
  • Thr are a lot of glasses on the table. - There are many glasses on the table (glasses can be used in the plural).

Training

In order to always write and speak correctly, you need to practice using the phrase there is/there are. The exercises for this topic are simple and aimed at developing automatic memorization, as well as training to quickly select the correct form. For example:

  • Put the correct form of the verb. Thr...a kite in the sky. - A kite is flying in the sky.
  • Put a question to the proposal. Thr are a lot of girls at the party. - There are a lot of girls at the party.
  • Translate the sentence. On the table there is a computer, many books and notebooks.

The more you begin to appreciate and love your familiar native Russian language. It seems to us that in Russian there are no confusing tenses, no regular/irregular verbs, no articles. Everything is simple and clear. But this, of course, is not true. And the Russian language has its own complex rules and confusing definitions. In this article we will look at the slightly confusing construction there is/are, which is quite unusual because it is at the beginning of a sentence and is usually not translated in any way.

How and when to use there is/there are?

We use this construction when we need to say about location any item. That is, that something (someone) somewhere located. You need to immediately remember that we always put it at first offers. I think you have already guessed that we use there is when we are talking about one subject, and there are when we are talking about several.

We will literally translate the first sentence as follows: "There there is (is) book on the shelf". Of course, in Russian it sounds ugly, and no one talks like that in real life. But at the first stage it is important to understand meaning what we say .

This literal translation will help you speak correctly and, most importantly, understand the logic of this construction. But when you say this phrase many times and there is no need to translate it word for word, then you can move on to a beautiful literary translation: There are two books on the shelf.

Order of words in a sentence
with there is/are

Remember to put “there is/ there are” at the beginning when you talk about the location of something. This will help your interlocutor understand from the very beginning that we are talking about finding something somewhere. In such a sentence, each word is in its specific place. Let's look at the word order in a sentence.

1 place 2nd place 3rd place 4th place
There be (in the required form) What (who) is Where is
There is a cat in the room
There are cats in the street

Negative form c there is/are

The negative form is formed by adding a particle not. It is used when you want to say that something no/wasn't/won't be anywhere. We can cut there is not = there isn't And there are not = there aren't.

Also with the construction there is/ there are the word is often used no (No). But abbreviations in such phrases are not allowed, because not is a particle that can be abbreviated, and no is a word that cannot be abbreviated.

How to ask questions with there is/are?

The construction of questions with this construction follows the standard rules of the English language. To ask a question, just move the words is/are to the beginning of the sentence, before the word there. Let's look at an example of how to turn an affirmative sentence into an interrogative one.

Statement

Question

A positive response will look like this.

At negative answer we add the particle not.

To reinforce this, let's look at another example.

How to ask questions using question words?

With the phrases there is/there are, you can also build sentences using question words. Here are some of them:

  • what - what,
  • which - which,
  • why - why,
  • how long - how long,
  • when - when.

In such questions, we put these words first, and then the sentence is built as in a simple question.

There is/are in past and future tenses

If you want to talk about something that was or will be somewhere, then for this it is enough to change form of words is/are (verb be). We will look at how this verb changes in great detail in the next article. For now, just remember that to change the tense using the construction there is/are, you need to change the verb.

Since there is/there are is mainly used to say where is this or that object, then you can easily practice using this construction. Take a look around. What do you see? Where are the things you are used to? So, There is...

This grammar topic will teach you how to work with popular English constructions there is / there are. Or, in other words, how to say: there is something here, there is something missing there.

There (are) a lot of rules at the airport.– There are a lot of rules at the airport.

There is no stadium in the town.– There isn’t a stadium in the town.

We use this construction when the sentence refers to the fact that something is / Not is located somewhere. In other words, something is somewhere or something is not somewhere. To do this, in English we use the construction there is / there are.

The word there in this construction will not change under any circumstances. According to the law of the genre, the verb to be will change in number and tense, as we will discuss below.

Here you need to be careful and not confuse the adverb there (there) and part of the construction there is / are. The difference will be visible in context and translation: there, which is included in there is / are, won’t even be translated, it’s just “is”. For example:

There is only one restaurant there. – There (there is) only one restaurant.

The second part of this construction is a verb already known to us "be"– to be in the form is and are (is for singular, are for plural).

There is a cake in the refrigerator. – There is a cake in the refrigerator.

There's a hole in my pocket. – There's a hole in my pocket.

In the last sentence we shortened there is to there's, which is quite typical in spoken English.

There are two men in the room. – There are two men in the room.

There're many mistakes in your test, you must do it over. – There are many errors in your test, you should redo it.(there are = there’re)

Often a student wonders: why can’t I say simply through a verb to be? For example:

Many mistakes are in your test.

It's very simple: such a sentence is grammatically correct, but the speaker will not say so, it will sound less natural to his ear. In addition, the design there is / are is very popular among carriers, so you definitely shouldn’t avoid it.

It is interesting that proposals with there is / are we translate from the end, the construction itself may not be translated at all or translated with the word “is”.

There are many Italian foodstuffs in this shop. – This store has a lot of Italian products.

There are seven days in a week. – There (are) seven days in a week.

Negation

It is a pleasure to work with this construction: to construct a negation we

add the particle not or the word no after is / are

There is not an umbrella in the car. – There is no umbrella in the car.

There isn't any cold water in the refrigerator. – There is no cold water in the refrigerator.

There is no lamp in my son’s room. – There is no lamp in my son's room.

Have you noticed that after there is not there must be an article a or an; after there is no we do not put either an article or any.

There are not two but three kids in their family. – Their family has not two, but three children.

There are n’t problems with this child. – There are no problems with this child.

There are no guests at the party. – There are no guests at the party.

Question

To construct a question you just need to rearrange the words in the construction itself there is / are.

Is there a scarf in the wardrobe? – Is there a scarf in the closet?

Is there a dog in the car? – Is there a dog in the car?

What is there on the table? – What (is) on the table?

Are there letters for me? – Are there any letters for me?

Are there students in the lecture hall? – Are there any students in the audience?

How many days are there in February? – How many days are there in February?

Very often the question arises in sentences where we need to list objects in both singular and plural. What to do in these cases?
The choice of is or are will depend on the first noun immediately following the construction there is / are.

There is one bathroom and two bedrooms in my flat. – My apartment has two bedrooms and one bathroom.

Because "bathroom" in the singular there is the first one, we chose there is.

There are 200 (two hundred) passengers and one air steward on the plane. – The plane has one flight attendant and 200 passengers.

In this sentence "passengers" the plural comes first, so we chose there are.

You can answer briefly:

Are there dogs in the pet-shop? – No, there aren’t. – Are there dogs in the pet store? - No.

Is there a line/queue? – Yes, there is. – Is there a queue? Yes, I have.

Countable and uncountable nouns

First, let us remember that there are such necessary concepts in English as a countable noun and uncountable nouns. A countable noun can be counted piece by piece: book-books, raccoon-raccoons, room-rooms. Accordingly, an uncountable noun cannot be counted piece by piece; examples of such words are: sugar, flour, sand, water

There is only works with singular countable nouns or only with uncountable nouns.

There is a store-room in the flat. – The apartment has a storage room.(example with a singular countable noun).

There is no sugar in my tea. – There is no sugar in my tea(example with an uncountable noun).

That is, we do not say: There are no sugar in my tea.

Accordingly, there are only works with plural countable nouns (well, uncountable nouns simply do not exist in the plural).

There are many rules in the English language. – There are many rules in English.(rule-rules, plural countable noun)

There are no lipsticks in her purse. – There are no lipsticks in her purse.(lipstick-lipsticks, plural countable noun)

Construction a lot of

The construction a lot of – works a lot with both countable and uncountable nouns, but there is one subtlety when using it together with there is / are.

There is a lot of salt in my soup. – There is a lot of salt in my soup.

Even though a lot of is a lot, we do not put there are here because "salt" uncountable noun.

There are a lot of important documents in his safe. – There are many important documents in his safe.

We use there are because “ documents" is a countable noun and is in the plural.

Some/any

An important part of this topic is the indefinite pronouns some and any. These words mean a certain quantity (inexact quantity).

Some is used in affirmative sentences.

Any is used in negative and interrogative sentences.

There is some bread in a bread bin. – There is some bread in the breadbox.
Is there any bread in a bread bin? – Is there any bread in the breadbox?
There isn’t any bread in a bread bin. – There is (no) bread in the breadbox.

There are some letters at the post office. – There are several letters in the mail.
Are there any letters at the post office? – Are there any letters in the mail?
There aren't any letters at the post office. – There are no letters at the post office.

  • Some and any work with both countable and uncountable nouns.

Sometimes we may come across small subtleties of translation:

  • Some+ uncountable noun = “a little” or depending on the context.

    There is some sand in your shoes. – There's a little sand in your shoes.

  • Some+ plural countable noun. number = "several"

    There are some eggs in the refrigerator. – There are several eggs in the refrigerator.

  • Some+ countable noun in singular number = "some"

    There is some guy in your office. – There's a guy in your office.

  • Any in a negative sentence = “none, none, none”

    There aren't any letters for you. – There are no letters for you.

  • Any in an interrogative sentence = “any, any, any / how much”

    Is there any butter at home? – Do you have (any) butter at home?
    Are there any dresses in this shop? – Does this store have any dresses?

As you noticed, we placed the translation of the words any and some in brackets, that is, in the Russian version these words are not mandatory. In the English version they are necessary.

And the last point: no need to consume some / any, if you have a specific subject in the singular and it is countable. In this case you need the article a / an:

There isn't a bike near the house. – There is no bicycle near the house. That is, a specific bike.

If the question arises: why doesn’t the article the go with a specific object, if the object is specific? The answer is simple: after there is Always Only articles a / an are used.

There is a big window in my room. – There is a large window in my room.

Use in other tenses

Of course, we do not only say in the present tense: there are a lot of people there, no problem, etc. In the past, future tense we will also say: there were no problems, there were a lot of people, there will be a lot of questions. If you are already familiar with the topic of modal verbs and tenses: Past Simple, Future Simple, Present Perfect and Past Perfect, then there will be no questions ☺

Since as part of the design there is / are we have a verb (to be in the form is and are) it is logical that it can change in tenses if we need it. Recall that the form there is / there are refers to the Present Simple tense.

If you know how to be works in principle in different tenses, then you will not have problems. And we remind you:

Time Form to be Examples
Past Simple There was/were

There was a hole in my pocket. – There was a hole in my pocket.

Were there any problems with your essay? – Were there any problems with your essay?

There wasn’t a wallet on my table. – There was no wallet on my table.

Future Simple There will be

There will be a lesson on Monday. – There will be a lesson on Monday.

Will there be a meeting this week? – Will there be a meeting this week?

There will be no winners in this war. – There will be no winners in this war.

Present Perfect There have been / There has been

There have been a lot of money problems this year. – There have been a lot of money problems this year.

Have there been many interesting projects recently? – Have there been many interesting projects there recently?

There hasn’t been any client today. – There weren't a single customer today.

Past Perfect There had been
(These formulas are rarely used in spoken English)

There had been some of my daughter’s friends when I came home. – When I came home, several of my daughter's friends were there.

He told me that there had been no real love in his life. – He told me that there was no true love in his life.

Had there been a party already when you arrived? – When you arrived, was there already a party there?

Modal verbs and there is / are

Modal verbs also fit perfectly into the sentence structure with there + be, all the rules are the same, you just need to understand modal verbs and remember that after modals we we don't change to be , but leave it in its original form:

There must be some explanation for his behavior. – There must be an explanation for his behavior.

There should be some law against people like you. – There must be some kind of law against people like you.

There may be a dangerous turn of events. – Events could take a dangerous turn.

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