There is and There are – English Grammar Exercises for A1
Pointing out Details in a Photo
You are showing a beautiful photograph (a landscape and a group of friends) to your classmates. You want to point out the interesting details inside the picture. Choose the correct option to describe what is in the photo.
1 Look at this picture! ______ a tall mountain in the background.
(a) There are
(b) There is
(c) It has
2 At the bottom left, ______ three of my best friends sitting on the grass.
(a) they are
(b) there is
(c) there are
3 Right in the middle of the photo, ______ a cute little dog looking at the camera.
(a) there is
(b) there has
(c) there be
4 I really love this landscape. ______ some dark clouds in the sky.
(a) It is
(b) There are
(c) There is
5 On the right side, ______ a man wearing a red hat. Can you see him?
(a) is there
(b) there are
(c) there is
6 The street in the photo is very quiet. ______ any cars.
(a) There aren’t
(b) There isn’t
(c) There don’t
7 ______ a river in the forest, or is it just a dirt road?
(a) Are there
(b) Is there
(c) Does there
8 If you look closely, ______ some white snow on the top of the mountain.
(a) there have
(b) there are
(c) there is
9 ______ any children in this group photo?
(a) Is there
(b) Are there
(c) Do there
10 Look at the beautiful lake. ______ a boat on the water; it is completely empty.
(a) There aren’t
(b) There not is
(c) There isn’t
11 Are there any flowers in the garden? – Yes, ______. Look at the red ones.
(a) there are
(b) they are
(c) there is
12 Next to the big tree on the left, ______ a boy and two girls playing.
(a) there are
(b) there is
(c) there has
13 The waterfall is amazing. ______ a lot of water coming down from the rocks.
(a) There is
(b) There are
(c) It have
14 This is a rocky beach, so ______ any sand.
(a) there don’t
(b) there aren’t
(c) there isn’t
15 In the front of the picture, ______ two small cats and a dog.
(a) there is
(b) there are
(c) there have
16 How many people ______ in this family portrait?
(a) is there
(b) there are
(c) are there
17 ______ a lot of people smiling at the camera in this shot.
(a) There are
(b) There is
(c) They are
18 The park looks beautiful because ______ tall green grass everywhere.
(a) it has
(b) there is
(c) there are
19 This photo was taken early in the morning, so ______ any tourists around.
(a) there isn’t
(b) they aren’t
(c) there aren’t
20 On the picnic table, ______ an old camera, a map, and my sunglasses.
(a) there are
(b) there have
(c) there is
ANSWER KEY & EXPLANATIONS
1 (b) There is
- Why it is correct: “A tall mountain” is a singular noun. We use “There is” to introduce a single thing existing in the picture.
- Why the others are wrong: (a) is for plural nouns. (c) “It has” is a common translation mistake; we don’t use “it has” to point out existence in a photo.
2 (c) there are
- Why it is correct: “Three of my best friends” is plural, so we use “there are”.
- Why the others are wrong: (a) “They are” means “Họ là” (identifying who they are), not “Có” (pointing out their presence). (b) is for singular nouns.
3 (a) there is
- Why it is correct: “A cute little dog” is singular.
- Why the others are wrong: (b) “There has” is structurally incorrect. (c) uses the unconjugated base verb “be”.
4 (b) There are
- Why it is correct: “Some dark clouds” is a plural noun phrase.
- Why the others are wrong: (a) “It is” cannot be used with a plural noun to show existence. (c) is for singular nouns.
5 (c) there is
- Why it is correct: “A man” is singular.
- Why the others are wrong: (a) is the question form, but this is an affirmative sentence. (b) is for plural.
6 (a) There aren’t
- Why it is correct: “Cars” is plural. The negative form is “There aren’t” (There are not).
- Why the others are wrong: (b) is for singular nouns. (c) uses the wrong auxiliary verb (“don’t”).
7 (b) Is there
- Why it is correct: To make a question about a singular noun (“a river”), we invert the verb and subject: “Is there…?”
- Why the others are wrong: (a) is for plural nouns. (c) is grammatically incorrect.
8 (c) there is
- Why it is correct: “Snow” is an uncountable noun. We always treat uncountable nouns as singular, so we use “there is”.
- Why the others are wrong: (a) is a structural error. (b) is for countable plural nouns.
9 (b) Are there
- Why it is correct: “Children” is the plural form of “child”. For plural questions, we use “Are there”.
- Why the others are wrong: (a) is for singular. (c) uses the wrong auxiliary verb.
10 (c) There isn’t
- Why it is correct: “A boat” is singular. The negative form is “There isn’t”.
- Why the others are wrong: (a) is for plural nouns. (b) is incorrect word order.
11 (a) there are
- Why it is correct: The question asks “Are there…?”, so the matching positive short answer is “Yes, there are.”
- Why the others are wrong: (b) “they are” does not match the question word “there”. (c) is for singular.
12 (b) there is
- Why it is correct: The Rule of Proximity! When you list multiple things (“a boy and two girls”), the verb must agree with the first noun in the list. “A boy” is singular, so we use “there is”.
- Why the others are wrong: (a) is a very common mistake because the total number of people is three, but it breaks the proximity rule. (c) is incorrect grammar.
13 (a) There is
- Why it is correct: “Water” is an uncountable noun, so we must use the singular “There is”.
- Why the others are wrong: (b) is incorrect because we cannot count water. (c) is a grammar error.
14 (c) there isn’t
- Why it is correct: “Sand” is an uncountable noun. Therefore, we use the singular negative “there isn’t”.
- Why the others are wrong: (a) uses the wrong auxiliary. (b) is for plural countable nouns.
15 (b) there are
- Why it is correct: The Rule of Proximity. The list is “two small cats and a dog”. Because the first item (“two small cats”) is plural, we use “there are”.
- Why the others are wrong: (a) would only be correct if the dog was listed first (e.g., There is a dog and two cats). (c) is incorrect grammar.
16 (c) are there
- Why it is correct: In a “How many…?” question, the noun (“people”) is plural, so the question structure must be “are there”.
- Why the others are wrong: (a) is for singular. (b) is an affirmative statement, not a question format.
17 (a) There are
- Why it is correct: “People” is a plural noun. Even though it has “a lot of” in front of it, we must use “There are” for plural countable nouns.
- Why the others are wrong: (b) is a common mistake because students sometimes think “a lot of” is a singular group. (c) means “Họ là”, not “Có”.
18 (b) there is
- Why it is correct: “Grass” is an uncountable noun. We always use “there is” for uncountable things.
- Why the others are wrong: (a) is a direct translation mistake. (c) is for plural countable nouns.
19 (c) there aren’t
- Why it is correct: “Tourists” is plural, so the negative is “there aren’t”.
- Why the others are wrong: (a) is for singular. (b) uses “they” instead of “there”.
20 (c) there is
- Why it is correct: The Rule of Proximity. The list is “an old camera, a map, and my sunglasses”. The very first item (“an old camera”) is singular, so we must use “there is”.
- Why the others are wrong: (a) is a distractor because there are three items in total, but it violates the grammar rule for lists. (b) is a structural error.
GRAMMAR POINTS TO REMEMBER
When you show someone a picture, you must use There is and There are. Do not use “It has”!
- For ONE thing (Singular): Use There is + a/an + noun.
- There is a dog in the picture.
- There isn’t a cloud in the sky.
- For TWO OR MORE things (Plural): Use There are + number/some/many + noun(s).
- There are three people.
- There aren’t any cars.
- For UNCOUNTABLE things (Things you can’t count: water, snow, sand, grass, weather): Always use There is.
- There is a lot of snow on the mountain.
- There isn’t any sand.
- The Proximity Rule (Listing multiple items): Look at the very first word right after the verb!
- There is a cat and two dogs. (Uses “is” because “a cat” is singular).
- There are two dogs and a cat. (Uses “are” because “two dogs” is plural).