there is

There Is / There Are Pair Activity: There’s No Place Like Home

Posted by on Aug 07, 2014 0 Comments

There is no place like home. Dorothy, The Wizard of Oz

In the Spotlight this week, Sprout English is featuring “there is / there are,” an important structure for practicing subject-verb agreement as well as prepositions of place. We have a NEW ready-made lesson plan for introducing this structure as well as a handy practice worksheet for more advanced learners. Here is a pair activity to try with your students after you use the lesson plan. In addition to practicing the target language, this activity gives students a chance to draw, speak, ask questions, and write.

Print one copy of this worksheet for each student.

1. Choose a Room or Space
Have students choose one room of their house and write it on the blank line (page 1).

2. Draw a Picture (more…)

There Is / There Are

Posted by on Aug 05, 2014 0 Comments

A lesson on there is / there are is useful for low-level students for many reasons. It uses the simple present, a very common verb tense. It demonstrates subject-verb agreement. It introduces students to prepositions of place (since we often mention a location in this type of sentence). And students will also learn vocabulary on food and containers in our There Is / There Are lesson! (more…)

There Is or There Are for Nouns in a Series?

Posted by on Aug 01, 2014 0 Comments

We all know that when a series of subject nouns are joined by a conjunction, a plural verb is needed. Take this example: Fruit, grains, and vegetables are good for your health. It’s your basic subject-verb agreement. But when we start a sentence with the very common indefinite subject there followed by a series of nouns (e.g., one man and two women), the normal rules go out the window. Should we use there is or there are? Not all style guides and grammarians agree, so what’s best to teach our students?

In honor of Sprout English’s new grammar lesson on There Is / There Are, I decided to create a worksheet for teachers and students who want to elaborate on the two basic rules (there is + singular or uncountable noun and there are + plural noun) by looking at what happens to the verb when it’s followed by nouns in a series. Use this explanation and worksheet to challenge more advanced students, or have it as a follow-up in case any of your students ask about nouns in a series.

A. Singular Verb

Examples: (more…)