Common contractions

There is = There's There's a man at the door

There has = There's There's been an accident

There have = There ve There've been a lot of accidents round here

There had = There'd He told me there'd been an accident near here

There would = There'd There'd be fewer accidents if drivers took care

There will = There'll There'll be a good harvest this year

10.18 Notes on the form and pronunciation of 'there' + 'be'

1 The singular form There's is often used informally in place of There
are to refer to the plural:

There's lots of cars on the roads these days There's a man and a dog in our garden

1 pare the stressed form to show we have just seen к There's [Sesz] the new Fiat [also > 7.59.1]

2 When we are talking about existence, There is/There's and There
are are unstressed and pronounced [ Йеэпг ] [ 5ez ] and [ Йеэга:]
Compare the stressed form to show we have just seen something:

Look¹

10.19 When we use 'there' + 'be' combinations

We use there + be combinations when we are talking or asking about the existence of people, things, etc. It is more idiomatic and 'natural' to say There's a man at the door' than to say 'A man is at the door'. The construction with there allows important new information to come at the end of the sentence for emphasis. We use there:

- when it is a 'natural choice': There's been an accident (= An accident has occurred.) Is there a hotel near here? - There's one on the corner

- to announce or report events, arrangements, facts, etc.: There'll be a reception for the President at the Grand Hotel There's been a wedding at the local church

- for scene-setting in story-telling: There hadn't been any rain for months The earth was bare and dry There wasn't a blade of grass growing anywhere

'There' + 'be'

10.20 'There is', etc. compared with e.g. 'it is'

Once existence has been established with there, we must use personal pronouns + be (or other verbs) to give more details: There's a bus coming, but it's full There's a man at the door It's the postman [> 3.20. 4] There's a man at the door He wants to speak to you [> 4.5.5] There are some children at the door They want to see Jimmy There's a van stopping outside It's someone delivering something

[compare > 1.60, 11.76.3-4, 16.52]

There's to be a concert at the Albert Hall tonight It's to be broadcast live (There/It is to be = There/It is going to be)

10.21 'There is', etc. + determiner

There is, etc. can combine with: e.g.

- a and an [> 3.10]:
There's a letter for you from Gerald (Not "It has *)
There'll be an exhibition of Hockney paintings in December

- the zero article [> 3.28.8]:
There are wasps in the jam

- some, any and no [> 5.10-11]: There are some changes in the printed programme Are there any lemons in the fridge? (Not * It has*) There are no volunteers for a job like this!

- some, any and no compounds [> 4.37]: Is there anyone here who can read Arabic? I'm starving and there's nothing in the fridge

- numbers and quantity words [> 5.3]: There are seventeen people coming to dinner! There aren't many Sanskrit scholars in the world There'll be thousands of football fans in London this weekend

- definite determiners (the, this that my, etc. [>3.1]). The use of the, etc. after there is is relatively rare: What can we carry this shopping in⁷ - There's the/this/my briefcase. Will that be all right?

10.22 'There' + verbs other than 'be'

There can be used with a few verbs besides be (usually in the

affirmative and in formal style). These verbs must be regarded as

variations of be in that they describe a state: e.g exist, live (there

lived is common in fairy stories) lie remain:

There remains one matter still to be' discussed

It is highly probable that there exist any number of systems

resembling our own solar system

There combines with verbs related to be, such as appear [> 10.25]: There appears/seems to be little enthusiasm for your idea There combines with a few other verbs, such as arrive, come enter, follow, rise- Such combinations have restricted uses: There will follow an interval of five minutes

10 Be, Have, Do

Verbs related in meaning to 'be'