There is / There are

Article excerpt · target grammar marked

In 1950, there were only two megacities on Earth. Today, there are 43. By 2050, demographers predict there will be over 60. In Lagos, there has been a surge in informal housing. Yet there is also enormous energy in these communities.

Grammar Reference · There is / There are

Present: is / are

Use there is with singular nouns and there are with plural nouns. There is a park nearby. There are 43 megacities today.

Past: was / were

Same singular/plural rule in the past. There was one cycle lane. There were many problems.

Modal: modal + be

After a modal verb (will, should, could, might), always use the bare infinitive be. There will be 60 megacities. There should be more parks.

Perfect: has/have been

Use there has been with singular, there have been with plural. There has been a surge. There have been many changes.

01Exercise 1 — Form · Write the Correct Form

There is / There are

1. a large park in the centre of Bogotá that residents use every weekend.

2. over 40 megacities on Earth when the report was published.

3. a shortage of affordable housing in many growing cities.

4. significant changes to Tokyo's housing policy in recent years.

5. more green spaces in cities if governments invest properly.

6. only one megacity in Asia before the Second World War.

02Exercise 2 — Find and Correct the Error

find the error · rewrite the sentence

1.There is many cycle lanes in Bogotá today.

2.There were a remarkable surge in population after 2000.

3.There should is better public transport in every megacity.

4.There have been a big increase in the number of vacant homes.

5.In 1950, there was only two megacities in the whole world.

6.There will being even more pressure on cities by 2050.

7.There is been a lot of debate about informal housing recently.

8.There are no shortage of ideas about how to fix the problem.

03Exercise 3 — About You

in your notebook

Personalise: complete five sentences about yourself using the target grammar.

There is / There are01classplan.ai