We use ―there is (are)‖ constructions talking about the existence or absence of people or things
in a definite place. These constructions have the meaning «есть, имеется, находится,
существует». The verb ―to be‖ in such constructions can be used in different tense forms: there
is/are, there was/were, there will be, there has/have been, there had been. The verb ―to be‖ in
such constructions can be used with modal verbs (can, may, must, ought to): There must be a
dictionary on the shelf. We can also use some other verbs after ―there‖ – to live, to exist, to
stand, to lie, etc.: There exist different opinions on the problem.
In ―there is (are)‖ constructions we observe the following word order:
―there is (are)‖+subject+adverbial modifier of time/place.
The corresponding Russian sentences begin with adverbial modifiers: There is a telephone in my
room. – В моей комнате есть (имеется) телефон. See the difference: The telephone is in my
room. – Телефон в моей комнате.
If the subjects are of different number the predicate agrees with the subject that stands first:
There is a table and six chairs in the room. There were some books and a dictionary on the desk.
Commentary: ―There are plenty of books on the bookshelves in her study‖ is a sentence with the
introductory ― there‖ which is used to point out the existence of some things in a definite place,
the subject of the sentence is expressed by a countable noun in plural.
―There isn‘t any soup in the plate‖ ‖ is a sentence with the introductory ― there‖ which is used to
point out the absence of something in a def
Объяснение:
