There is, there are, it is

I have a book. (יש לי)

Dana also has a book. (יש לה)

but

There is a book on the table. (יש)

There are books on the table. (יש)

And in the Past,

I had a headache last night. (היה לי)

but

There was a wonderful party last night. (הייתה)

There were many guests at the party. (היו)

and in the Future,

I hope we will have a lot of fun at the party.

but

I hope there will not be a lot of traffic on our way home.

Conclusion:

When possession refers to a certain person, we use HAVE: ‘יש לי, יש לך, יש לו, וכו.

Wheמ possession is general, we use THERE IS: יש.

Some students may be confused about the differences between THERE IS and IT IS.

There is a lot of noise here. (יש)

It is a beautiful day. (זה)

There was a lot of noise at the party. (היה)

It was a difficult exam. (זה היה)

In this case, I would recommend translating and comparing in order to avoid confusion:

There is, there are: יש

It is: זה – No Plural.

There was, there were: היה, היו

It was: זה היה – No Plural.

Final Remark:

Let’s remind our students that its and it’s do not mean the same.

It’s (it is) a lovely dress.

What a wonderful dog. Look at its tail.

And that’s all for today. My next post will deal with the Present Perfect.

Lea 🙂

www.english-books.co.il

For more detais, please see:

לומדים אנגלית