Is There A, Is There Any, Are There Any – What’s the difference?

Grammar / By
  • We use “is there a” with singular countable nouns.  
  • We use “is there any” with uncountable nouns.  
  • We use “are there any” with plural countable nouns.  

Is There A

We use “Is there a” when we want to ask if there is a singular countable noun that exists. We use the question ”is there….?” when we want to discover if something is present or exists.

Example Sentences:

Is there a country in Europe with an automotive industry?

Is there a Chinese restaurant in this city?

Is there a pen that I can write with?

We use the article ”a” when we want to describe “one of many”. In the examples above there may be many countries in Europe that have an automotive industry but we are just looking for one. 

Are There Any

We usually use “any” with plural and nouns in questions and negative sentences with “there are”. We use the question form of “there is/are” to ask whether something exists or not. 

Examples:

Are there any people from Turkey here?

Are there any bananas in the kitchen?

Are there any cars with an English registration plate?

Is There Any

We use “is there any” with uncountable nouns when we want to know if something exists or not. 

Examples:

Is there any milk left in the fridge?

Is there any bread that you want to throw out?

Is there anything you need from the shop?

Any with questions that don’t include There is and There are

In regular present tense questions (Do and Does) we use “any” + singular noun when we are looking for a specific piece of information or in certain positive sentences. We use “any” + plural nouns in regular interrogative and negative sentences.

Is There A or Is There Any?

We use “is there a” when the noun is singular and countable.

Is there a Christmas tree for sale?

We use “is there any” when the noun is uncountable.

Is there any food for me?

Is There Any or Are There Any?

We use “is there any” when the noun is uncountable.

Is there any cake for me?

We use “are there any” when the noun is countable and plural.

Are there any cars in the driveway? 

Conor
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