Minor Word Classes Page 2

Existential there

MINOR WORD CLASSES PAGE 2/3

We have seen that the word there is an adverb, in sentences such as:

You can't park there

I went there last year

Specifically, it is an adverb of place in these examples.

However, the word there has another use. As EXISTENTIAL THERE, it often comes at the start of a sentence:

There is a fly in my soup

There were six errors in your essay

Existential there is most commonly followed by a form of the verb be. When it is used in a question, it follows the verb:

Is there a problem with your car?

Was there a storm last night?

The two uses of there can occur in the same sentence:

There is a parking space there

In this example, the first there is existential there, and the second is an adverb.

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