There
From Creolista!
Contents
Pronunciation
UK: strong form /ðeə/, There's /ðeəz/, There are /ðeərə/
US: strong form /ðɜr/, There's /ðɜrz/, There are /ðɜrər/
NB: identical to the pronunciation of there and they're. This is terribly inefficient and makes learning difficult, but what can you do? That's the way the language is!
Existential
In the following patterns: s indicates any plural noun. (i.e. including irregular ones like people, children, data, alumni, etc., ...
Present
- There is an . . . in the fridge.
- There are . . .s in the soup.
- There isn't any . . . in the soup. (uncountable nouns)
- There aren't any . . . s in the freezer. (countable nouns)
Past
- There was a problem with the file.
- There were mistakes in the file.
- There wasn't any . . . left.
- There weren't any . . . s in the building.
Future
- There will be an . . . next week.
- There will be . . . s later this week.
- There won't be an . . . until next week.
- There won't be . . . s in the room.
Locative
A location a distance away from the speaker & listener. The opposite of here.
Idiomatic
Comfort
- There, there, don't cry.
Humorous add-on to demonstrative determiners
From dialectal (non-standard) English
- "That there" NOUN vs. "this here" NOUN
- "them there" NOUNs vs. "these here" NOUNs