There Is / There Are Advanced Exercises

The advanced beginner stage of there is / there are focuses on longer noun phrases and list sentences. A common rule is that, in many list sentences, the first item after the verb controls the choice: "There is a sofa and two chairs in the lounge" but "There are two chairs and a sofa in the lounge." This pattern is very common in descriptions of rooms, streets, travel plans, and timetables. Learners at this level also meet more complex groups such as a pair of shoes, a set of keys, or three kinds of drinks, where the answer depends on the main word in the group rather than the nearest word.

Another tricky area is the main noun inside longer phrases. In "There is a pair of shoes under the chair", the singular noun pair controls the verb, not shoes. But in "There are several pairs of shoes by the door", the main noun is plural pairs, so the verb changes to are. Learners improve quickly when they stop following the nearest noun and instead identify the real main noun of the phrase.