Practice Makes Perfect

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Use there is and there are to show that something exists. Use there is with singu-
lar nouns and there are with plural nouns.
Singular Plural
There is a gift for you on
→ There are two gifts for you on 
the table.
the table.
There is a sand castle on
→ There are a lot of sand castles on 
the beach.
the beach.
There is a dove on the fence. 
→ There are many doves on the fence.
There is a button on the floor. → There are three buttons on the floor.
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EXERCISE
 Use your dictionary to find the meaning of the new vocabulary words 
needed for this exercise before you begin. Write the words in your 
language in the space provided.
colt 
meatball
sink 
gigantic
rock 
peppers
street 
seagull 
piglet 
quilt 
stallion 
sauce 
caterpillar 
fire hydrant
whiteboard
phone book
Rewrite the following sentences by choosing 
there is
 or 
there are
 depending on whether 
the noun is singular or plural.
1. (There is, There are) many meatballs and red peppers in the sauce.
2. (There is, There are) a whiteboard in my classroom.
There Is and There Are: 
Present Tense
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 90
practice makes perfect Basic 
English
3. (There is, There are) rocks in my boot.
4. (There is, There are) a phone book on her desk.
5. (There is, There are) gigantic footprints in the snow.
6. (There is, There are) a fire hydrant at the corner of my street.
7. (There is, There are) many caterpillars on the tree.
8. (There is, There are) a black stallion in the field.
9. (There is, There are) four piglets and three colts in the barn.
10. (There is, There are) a quilt on my bed.
11. (There is, There are) many seagulls on the beach.
12. (There is, There are) a new keyboard in the box.
13. (There is, There are) two sponges in the bucket.
14. (There is, There are) many dirty plates in the sink.
15. (There is, There are) six diamonds on my ring.
16. (There is, There are) a few gray squirrels in the tree.
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