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There is / are, and other forms...

1) There is + singular ; there are + plural; there 's a singular short form. 

ex : There's a man => There are two men. 

2) There + to be  can be built in all the tenses.

 

There will be rain again tomorrow !	Here is a prediction of the weather in the future.
There would be problems if there was more rain ...	= a 'conditional'. What 'would happen'; if = unreal.
There has been rain for days./ There had been ...	= a duration (of the bad weather conditions).
There was rain yesterday.	= the rain belonged to the past.

                                                

3) The affirmative and negative forms are built very simply :

- Affirmative Form = the subject /verb inversion: Will there be rain tomorrow?  

- Negative  Form = addition of 'not': There won't be rain tomorrow. 

4) 'There + to be'  can be associated with a modal : 

There can be a lot of rain in this area.	It indicates a possibility, a capacity.
There may be ....	It indicates an eventuality, a possibility ....
There may have been ....	It expresses a possibility in the past...
There should be/ should have been ...	It expresses advice or reproaches /regrets...
There must be /There must have been ...	It expresses near certainty.../ or an obligation

                                                     

5) 'There used to be' expresses a difference between the present and the past : 

ex : There used to be a ferry here, but now, they have built a bridge.

That's it !  Ready for the test, now ! 

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1. Will their beWill there beThere will beWill they beI don't know a meeting with our partners tomorrow?

2. Of course not! There are already beenThere was already beingThere has already beenI don't know one in a recent past!

3. They're should beTheir should beThere should beI don't know traffic lights here! It's terribly dangerous!

4. Their use to beThey're use to beThere used to beThey're used to beingI don't know little houses here, but now they have built this huge block of offices instead...

5. Let's try to look carefully... Their should beShould there beThey're should beThere should beI don't know a key hidden under that big pot of flowers.

6. If you advertised for the event, their will bethere had beenthere would bethere will beI don't know more visitors... Let's do it!

7. Was theirWere they'reWere thereWas thereI don't know a gun in the burglar's backpack?

8. The police didn't find a gun, but they're wasthere wasthere werethere will beI don't know two very big knives and a hood...

9. Their hasn't beenThere wasn't beenThey're haven't beenThere hasn't beenI don't know any claim for the gold bracelet that was found yesterday.

10. Look here! Can there beThere cannot beThey're can beThere can beI don't know only one solution to this problem, and I know he's found it!

11. Oh no! They're going to beThere gone beenTheir going to beThere's going to beI don't know a long delay for the arrival of his plane! I hate waiting!

12. There must beTheir must beThey're must beTheir mustn't beI don't know another explanation, and I insist on knowing it...

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