There is, There are

“There is”, singular, “There are”, plural, are used to indicate the presence of somebody or something in a place. In a sentence with more than a subject, “There is” must be used if the first subject is singular; “there are” must be used if the first subject is plural.

Affermative	Negative	Interrogative	Interro-negative
There is (There’s)	There is not (There isn’t)	Is there?	Is there not? (Isn’t there?)
There are	There are not (There aren’t)	Are there?	Are there not? (Aren’t there?)

With there is/there are the partitives some or any are often used. Some is used in affermative sentences, or in questions implying a positive answer. Any is used in negative and interrogative sentences.

Short Answer Affermative	Short Answer Negative
Yes, there is	No, there isn’t
Yes, there are	No, there aren’t

Examples:

• Is there any milk in the fridge? (I don’t know whether there is or not)
• Is there some bread left? (I expect that not all the bread  has been eaten)
• Are there any soldiers in this old barracks? No, there aren’t
• How many people are there waiting? There are about 100 people waiting.
• There aren’t any seats available at the theatre for the next rehearsal of “Mamma Mia”.
• In my bedroom there’s a desk, a wardrobe and many books.
• There are pens, pencils, and a copybook inside my locker.