In English, existence is usually indicated by the structure there + to be. There is actually an adverb of place, but the introductory there has no adverbial sense. It is merely used to introduce the sentence.
- There are two people in the room. (More natural than ‘Two people are in the room’.)
- There is a bridge over the river.
- There have been many such rumors.
- There is a hole in my tights.
There was a lot of noise in the street. - There is no denying the fact that he stole the watch.
Note that in the last sentence we use a peculiar structure – no + gerund, which indicates impossibility.
- There is no denying…= It is impossible to deny…
With plural subjects we use there are.
- There were many accidents last year.
Note that there is is also common before plural subjects in informal speech.
- There is some apples in the fridge. OR There are some apples in the fridge.
Introductory there can also be used with some intransitive verbs.
- There seems to be a problem.
- There came a knock at the door.
- There happened to be no on near to save the boy.
- There grew a warm friendship between the two.
- There spread a rumor that he had been killed.
Note that introductory there is not used in a sentence if there is a definite subject.
- John was at the party. (NOT There was John at the party.)
