There is, there are

What does "there is/there are" mean?

We use the construction "there is / there are" to describe that something exists, is present, is situated, is lying or standing somewhere.

Study these examples

There are five men in the room. = Five men are present in the room.

There is a cup on the table. = A cup is standing on the table.

There are a few ways to make coffee. = People know a few ways to make coffee.

There is a good Italian restaurant nearby. = A good Italian restaurant is situated nearby.

There are a lot of trees in the park. = A lot of trees grow in the park.

To form this construction we use the word there and the verb to be.
"To be" changes depending on the tense and singular/plural form.

"There is/are" in the present simple:

Type of sentence	Singular	Plural
Positive	There is ... (= There's)	There are ...
Negative	There is not ... (= There isn't / There's not)	There are not ... (= There aren't)
Question	Is there...?	Are there...?

Examples of "there is"

There is a cat on the tree.

There's some milk in the fridge.

There isn't any news about the accident.

Is there a cash machine near here? No, there isn't.

Is there any money in your account? Yes, there's some.

Examples of "there are"

There are twelve months in a year.

There are a lot of sales in January.

There aren't any skyscrapers in this city.

There aren't any fresh T-shirts in the wardrobe.

Are there any roses in your garden?

How many cars are there in his garage?

We usually add an indication of quantity to "there is / there are":

a lot of, many
some
any

"Any" is used in negatives and questions with uncountable and plural nouns:

Examples

There isn't any tea in the teapot.

Are there any ideas?

There aren't any hotels in this district.