Grammar Check

Knowledge of the basics of English grammar will help you to communicate clearly and confidently. Here, we review why, when and how to use the dummy “there” at the beginning of a clause.

The dummy “there”

We use the dummy there + be at the beginning of a sentence or clause to introduce new information or the main information of a sentence. We also use it to say that something exists. This is why we describe such clauses with the dummy there + be structure as “existential clauses”.

1. Singular or plural?

The dummy there is simply a placeholder, or “dummy subject”, for the “real” subject of the sentence or clause. It is sometimes called an “empty subject”. As such, the verb has to agree with the “real” subject of the sentence:

There is a coffee shop at the end of the road.

There are three coffee shops at the end of the road.

2. All tenses

The dummy there + be structure is used in all tenses and forms:

There were 500 applicants. There’s a whole section on HR on the intranet.

Is there a skill you need to improve on?

There won’t be a training session this week.

There have been several complaints made about the noise.

3. Modal forms

We can also use modal forms with this structure:

There should be more information on the intranet.

There must have been 300 applicants.

There might be a better option for everyone.

4. With quantifiers

We often use there + be with different quantifiers, for example any, some, much, many and several: There are several problems with the new personnel software.

Are there any issues I should know about?

There are many courses you could take.

5. With indefinite pronouns

This structure is also common with indefinite pronouns, such as

nobody, nothing, somebody and

something:

There’s something you could do for me.

There’s nothing we can do.

Is there somebody I could talk to about my review?

6. Common verbs

There are a few verbs (appear, continue, happen, need, seem, tend, used) that can stand between there and to be:

There appears/seems to be a mistake on the application.

There tend to be many more applications in the winter months.

There used to be a canteen in this area. 7. Fixed phrases

The following are useful fixed expressions with the dummy there: There’s bound/certain/likely/ sure to be some negative feedback.

There’s expected to be no shortage of applicants.

There’s supposed to be a meeting today.

There’s no point in applying now.

There’s no need to change the time of the meeting.

8. Question tags

The dummy there can also appear in a question tag:

There should be enough time, shouldn’t there?

There aren’t any problems with this, are there?