There be

There be is an English lexical-grammatical structure, which combines existential there with the verb be as existential be to describe the existence of things.

Meaning

There indicates a place that is distant from the deictic centre.

Form

Basic form

The basic forms are in the following table:

Form	Singular	Plural	Negative singular	Negative plural	Interrogative singular	Interrogative plural	Interrogative negative singular	Interrogative negative plural
To-infinitive (simple)	there to be		there not to be		n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
To-infinitive (perfect)	there to have been		there not to have been		n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Bare infinitive (simple)	there be		there not be
Bare infinitive (perfect)	there have been
Gerund (simple)	there being		there not being
Gerund (perfect)	there having been		there not having been
Present simple	there is	there are	there isn’t		there aren’t
Present perfect	there has been	there have been	there hasn’t been		there have not been
Past simple	there was	there were	there wasn’t	there weren’t	Was there...?	Were there...?	Was there not...?	Were there not...?
Past perfect	there had been		there hadn’t been

While the perfect aspect can apply, the progressive aspect can’t be used; we don’t say *there are being.

With modal verbs

In addition, "there be" can take modal verbs, both full modal verbs and semi-modal verbs. Note that in these constructions, there is no object agreement, as they all take an infinitive; either a bare infinitive or to-infinitive.

Verb	Simple	Perfect
can	there can be	?there can have been
could	there could be	there could have been
will	there will be	there will have been
would	there would be	there would have been
May	there may be	there may have been
might	there might be	there might have been
shall	there shall be	there shall have been
should	there should be	there should have been
must	there must be	there must have been
ought to	there ought to be	there ought to have been
need to	there needs to be	there needs to have been
have to	there have to be	there have/has to have been
used to	there used to be	-

Syntax

There is a book on the table.

In the sentence , the subject of this sentence is a book. There is typically analysed as an adverb. The auxiliary verb agrees with this subject, so if we add another book, we need to change this to:

There are two books on the table.

Pronunciation

For those with non-rhotic pronunciation, a linking /r/ is often desirable in there are, especially to distinguish it from they are, which has a linking /j/. There’s little point of students thinking of the right grammar, and then saying something that sounds wrong, such as something that will be heard as *“They are two pens on the table”.

Are in there are is often reduced to a schwa — /ðeərə/. There were is similarly reduced to /ðeəwə/, and there was to /ðeəwəz/, etc, etc.

Anticipate difficulties

Chinese students will often try to say *there has, or *there have, or just *have or *has (without there). This is because in similar situations in Chinese, they use 有 (Pinyin: yǒu). This frequently develops into a fossilised error.