A1 English grammar worksheet
Choosing is or are after there depending on the noun that follows, and forming plural nouns correctly.
12 gap-fill exercises on There is / there are, and plural nouns, the first thing most beginners get wrong in English. Answer in the browser and the rule appears with each answer, or print the PDF and work through it on paper.
This A1 sheet is free on the web. The graded set from A2 to C2 lives in the oqou app, where A1 is part of Pro as well.
Practise it here
After each answer you get the rule, written in English. That is deliberate: the sheets are made to be worked through in the language you are learning.
Exercise 1 of 12
There a new café on the corner of the street.
Choose the word that fills the gap.
A1 English grammar worksheet
Print it
The same worksheet as a print-ready A4 PDF, with the answer key on the last page. Free to use in a classroom, and free to share.
Download the PDFThere is / there are, and plural nouns
There ___ a new café on the corner of the street.
There ___ some milk in the fridge if you want a drink.
There ___ three chairs around the table.
There ___ a lot of traffic on the roads this morning.
There ___ any biscuits left in the tin.
There ___ any bread in the kitchen.
___ a bank near the station?
___ any good restaurants in this town?
There ___ a chair and two tables in the room.
There are three ___ waiting outside the doctor's office.
There are two ___ playing in the park.
There are several ___ working in this office.
Answer key
There is a new café on the corner of the street.
We use there is with one thing, like a café.
There is some milk in the fridge if you want a drink.
We use there is with things like milk that we do not count one by one.
There are three chairs around the table.
We use there are with more than one thing, like three chairs.
There is a lot of traffic on the roads this morning.
Traffic is not something we count one by one, so we use there is.
There aren't any biscuits left in the tin.
Biscuits is a plural word, so the negative form is there aren't.
There isn't any bread in the kitchen.
Bread is not something we count one by one, so the negative form is there isn't.
Is there a bank near the station?
Bank is one thing, so the question starts with Is there.
Are there any good restaurants in this town?
Restaurants is plural, so the question starts with Are there.
There is a chair and two tables in the room.
When a list starts with one thing, like a chair, we say there is.
There are three people waiting outside the doctor's office.
The plural of person is people, not persons.
There are two children playing in the park.
The plural of child is children, not childs.
There are several women working in this office.
The plural of woman is women, not womans.
The rest of the English grammar set
The oqou app carries the full graded set, one worksheet per CEFR level, alongside the reading it is meant to support. Grammar practice is part of Pro.
- A2Past simple and past continuous14 exercisesIn the app
- A2Comparatives and superlatives12 exercisesIn the app
- A2Countable and uncountable: some, any, much, many, a few12 exercisesIn the app
- A2Going to and will12 exercisesIn the app
- A2Adverbs of frequency and word order12 exercisesIn the app
- A2Verb + -ing or verb + to-infinitive12 exercisesIn the app
- B1Present perfect and past simple14 exercisesIn the app
- B1Must, have to, should: obligation and advice12 exercisesIn the app
- B1Relative clauses, defining and non-defining12 exercisesIn the app
- B1Reported speech and backshift12 exercisesIn the app
- B1The passive: present and past simple12 exercisesIn the app
- B1Used to and would for past habits12 exercisesIn the app
- B2The three conditionals16 exercisesIn the app
- B2Modals of deduction: must have, might have, can't have12 exercisesIn the app
- B2Wish, if only and the unreal past12 exercisesIn the app
- B2Passive reporting: it is said that, he is thought to12 exercisesIn the app
- B2Future perfect and future continuous12 exercisesIn the app
- B2Concession and contrast: although, despite, whereas, however12 exercisesIn the app
- C1Inversion and fronting for emphasis14 exercisesIn the app
- C1Cleft sentences: it-clefts and wh-clefts12 exercisesIn the app
- C1Reduced and prepositional relative clauses12 exercisesIn the app
- C1Verb patterns that change meaning: stop, remember, go on, regret12 exercisesIn the app
- C1Alternatives to if: unless, provided that, as long as, otherwise12 exercisesIn the app
- C1Hedging and cautious language12 exercisesIn the app
- C2Participle clauses, ellipsis and nominalisation15 exercisesIn the app
- C2The mandative subjunctive and formal that-clauses12 exercisesIn the app
- C2Register: Latinate verb or phrasal verb12 exercisesIn the app
- C2Modality in formal and legal register: shall, be to, may12 exercisesIn the app
- C2Correlative structures: the more... the more, such... that, no sooner... than12 exercisesIn the app
- C2Reporting and distancing: allege, purport, be said to12 exercisesIn the app
Questions about the worksheets
Are these grammar worksheets really free?
Yes. The A1 worksheet for every language is free on this site, both to practise online and to download as a PDF, with no account and no email. You may print them for a class.
Where are the A2, B1 and higher worksheets?
In the oqou app, one worksheet per CEFR level per language, as part of Pro. A1 is free here on the web and part of Pro in the app, which is a deliberate exception rather than an oversight.
Can I use these with my students?
Yes. Print the PDF, hand it out, keep the answer key. A link back to this page is appreciated but not required.