There is & There are ESL Games, Activities & Worksheets
A Walk in the Park
ESL There Is There Are Worksheet - Grammar Exercises: True or False, Writing Sentences and Short Answers, Sentence Completion
This productive 'There is' and 'There are' worksheet helps students describe what they can see in a park using simple, everyday English. First, students look...
Classroom Quiz
ESL Is There and Are There Game - Grammar and Speaking: Gap-Fill, Asking and Answering Questions, Controlled Practice - Group and Pair Work
In this fun 'Is/Are there...?' and 'How many... are there?' game, students test a partner's memory of the classroom by asking 'Is there a...?', 'Are there any...?' and...
Inside my Bedroom
ESL There Is There Are Game - Grammar: Matching, Forming Sentences - Pair Work
In this free 'There is' and 'There are' game, students make true sentences about a bedroom picture while reviewing everyday objects vocabulary. In pairs, students take turns turning over one card from each pile. If the two cards make a...
My Bedroom
ESL Is There Are There Activity - Vocabulary Exercises: Matching, Listing - Speaking: Asking and Answering Questions, Freer Practice - Pair Work
In this engaging 'Is there a...?' and 'Are there any...?' activity, students practice asking questions and giving short answers about bedroom objects and furniture...
Shop till you drop
ESL Is There Are There Activity - Grammar and Speaking: Information Gap, Asking and Answering Questions - Pair Work
In this useful 'Is there a...?' and 'Are there any...?' activity, students design their own shopping centre or mall plan and then ask a partner questions to find out what is on each floor of their partner's building...
There Was Were Memory Game
ESL There Was There Were Game - Grammar, Vocabulary and Speaking: Memorisation, Writing Sentences, Asking and Answering Questions - Pair Work
In this enjoyable 'There was' and 'There were' game, students memorise pictures, write sentences describing what they remember, and then check their...
Where am I?
ESL There Is There Are Game - Grammar and Speaking: Reading Sentences, Guessing - Pair Work
In this entertaining 'There is...' and 'There are...' game, students take turns reading short clues about a place and guessing where they are. In pairs, Student A starts by picking up a card from their pile without...
I Draw, You Draw
ESL There Is Are Activity - Grammar, Speaking and Writing: Picture Dictation, Drawing, Describing, Forming and Writing Sentences - Pair Work
In this rewarding There is and There are activity, students use 'There is/are...' to describe a picture of a room and draw a room picture by listening to another...
My Dream Home
ESL There Is Are Worksheet - Grammar and Vocabulary Exercises: Short Answer Questions, Drawing, Writing Sentences - Speaking Activity: Presenting, Freer Practice
In this inventive There is and There are worksheet, students write about their dream home using 'There is/are...' First, students use 'There is' and 'There are'...
There Is Are Worksheet
ESL There is There are Worksheet - Grammar, Reading and Writing Exercises: Short Answer Questions, Identifying, Error Correction, Writing Sentences
Here is a free apartment-themed worksheet to help students practice 'There is' and 'There are'. First, students read a text about the type of apartment Tyler and Kayla...
There is There are Dominoes
ESL There is and There are Game - Grammar and Vocabulary: Matching - Group Work
In this productive There is and There are game, students play dominoes by making affirmative and negative 'There is/are(n't)' statements and questions with 'Is/Are there'. In groups, the first player tries to make an affirmative or negative...
Where in the World?
ESL There Is Are Game - Grammar, Speaking and Writing: Forming Sentences and Questions, Guessing, Writing Sentences, Controlled Practice - Pair Work
In this fun There is and There are game, students describe common places using 'There is/are' and 'There isn't/aren't' for a partner to guess. In pairs...
Picture Dictations
ESL There Is Are Picture Dictation - Grammar, Listening and Speaking Activity: Picture Dictation, Forming Sentences, Drawing - Pair Work
In this entertaining There is and There are drawing activity, students use 'There is/are' and prepositions of place to dictate pictures to each other. In pairs, students...
There is There are Question Time
ESL There Is Are Questions Activity - Grammar and Speaking: Forming, Asking and Answering Questions, Controlled and Freer Practice - Group and Pair Work
In this insightful There is and There are speaking activity, students practice forming, asking and answering conversation questions that contain various forms of...
Understanding There is & There are
'There is' and 'there are' are existential structures that introduce the existence or presence of something, with 'there is' used before singular and uncountable nouns and 'there are' used before plural nouns. Students who write 'There are a dog in the garden' or 'There is three chairs at the table' produce sentences that break the number agreement, confusing listeners who expect the noun to match the verb form.
This page covers 'there is' and 'there are' across A1-A2, A2, and B1 levels, with fourteen resources including card games, worksheets, information-gap activities, dominoes, and picture dictations, two of which are available as free downloads.
The table below shows how to form 'there is' and 'there are' statements, questions, and short answers across the most common noun types.
| Form | Structure | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Affirmative singular | There is + a/an + singular noun | 'There is a sofa in the living room.' |
| Affirmative plural | There are + number/some + plural noun | 'There are three chairs at the table.' |
| Affirmative uncountable | There is + some + uncountable noun | 'There is some furniture in the hall.' |
| Negative singular | There isn't + a/an + singular noun | 'There isn't a bathtub in the bathroom.' |
| Negative plural | There aren't + any + plural noun | 'There aren't any windows in the room.' |
| Yes/No question singular | Is there + a/an + singular noun? | 'Is there a garage?' |
| Yes/No question plural | Are there + any + plural noun? | 'Are there any shops nearby?' |
| Short answer positive | Yes, there is / Yes, there are | 'Yes, there are.' |
| Short answer negative | No, there isn't / No, there aren't | 'No, there isn't.' |
| Past singular | There was + a/an + singular noun | 'There was a lamp on the desk.' |
| Past plural | There were + number + plural noun | 'There were four people in the room.' |
When to Use There is & There are
Describing a Place for the First Time: When a speaker introduces a location to a listener who has no prior knowledge of it, 'there is/are' signals that the noun is new information rather than a known reference, making the description clearer and easier to follow, for example 'There is a large park near my apartment, and there are two cafes inside it.'
Giving Directions and Locations: Speakers use 'there is/are' to point a listener toward specific features of a route or area, treating each feature as something the listener has not yet encountered, for example 'There is a bus stop on the corner, and there are plenty of taxis outside the station.'
Reporting What Was Present in the Past: Shifting to 'there was/were' lets a speaker describe a past scene or former arrangement, establishing what existed at an earlier time without implying it is still present, for example 'There was a small market on that street, but there were very few stalls left by the time we arrived.'
3-Step Framework for Teaching There is & There are
1. Ground the Form with a Picture-Based Worksheet: Students look at a park scene and mark 'There is/are' sentences as true or false, then rewrite the false ones to make them true. Next, they answer 'Is there...?' and 'Are there...?' questions using short answers, and finish by completing four sentences about their own favorite park using 'There is/are' and 'There isn't/aren't'.
2. Consolidate with a Dominoes Group Game: One player places a domino at either end of the chain to form an affirmative or negative 'There is/are(n't)' statement or an 'Is/Are there...?' question, then reads it aloud. The group checks that the quantifier and countable or uncountable noun match correctly; an incorrect statement means the domino is taken back. The first player to place all dominoes wins.
3. Extend to Pair Picture Dictation: Partners take turns describing four pictures using 'There is/are' and spatial language, for example 'In picture 1, there is a house with a door in the center. There is a window on either side of the door.' The listener draws the described scene, and pairs compare drawings at the end to check accuracy.
Common Mistakes with There is & There are
Confusing 'It is' with 'There is': Students often write 'it is' to introduce a noun that the listener has not heard before, not realizing that 'it is' refers back to something already known while 'there is' introduces something new. Wrong: 'It is a park near my house.' Correct: 'There is a park near my house.'
Using 'There is' Before a Plural Noun: Students often use 'there is' regardless of whether the noun that follows is singular or plural, not realizing that the verb must agree with the noun that follows, not with the word 'there.' Wrong: 'There is many students in the classroom.' Correct: 'There are many students in the classroom.'
Common Questions About Teaching There is & There are
What is a fun game for practicing 'Is there...?' and 'Are there...?' questions?
The game Classroom Quiz tests how well elementary students remember their classroom. Students complete 'Is there a...?', 'Are there any...?', and 'How many... are there?' questions. One student then closes their eyes while a partner asks each one. A correct answer scores one point and a correct response scores another, for example 'There are eight desks.' The highest scorer wins.
What is a good game for practicing 'there is' and 'there are' to describe places?
The game Where in the World? challenges students to describe a place using 'There is/are' and 'There isn't/aren't' accurately enough for a partner to guess it. Guessing correctly without asking scores two points; using 'Is/Are there...?' to narrow it down scores one. Pairs then write their own place description and read it aloud for the class.
What is an engaging worksheet for practicing 'there is' and 'there are'?
The free worksheet There Is Are Worksheet takes students through a full range of practice around apartment listings. Students read about what two people want in an apartment, then review four options. They answer short-answer questions, correct mistakes in 'There is/are' sentences, write 'Is/Are there...?' questions for given answers, and finish by describing their chosen apartment to the class.
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