ESL Blues: There is, There are, Is there? Are there?

Main Website:

Activity Website:

In this activity, students fill in the blanks in a dialogue between a customer and a travel agent with there is, there are, is there and are there.

Teach students the rules for the use of there is, there are, is there and are there.
In order get students to the Web site to work on their own (Step 2 below), you can make a favorite or bookmark the site on each computer browser, e-mail them the link, e-mail a word processing document with the link in it, or post the link on your class Web page.

Review when to use there is/there are and is there/are there.
Direct students to the Example Web Site (above) and review the instructions. You may want to demonstrate how to use the site with the first question. You will also need to choose between the timed or the untimed version of the quiz.
Have students complete the quiz and have them show you their scores and review the answers to any they got wrong.

This site has recently been redesigned to make these activities available to be used on various mobile devices.
Although the site is not for complete beginners, new quizzes for that level are being added. Look for the B sign.
If you already know the level you are looking for, use the numbers as a guide.
        1 = basic level: very simple conversation etc.
        2 = medium level: talk about the past, future etc.
        3 = high level: have discussions etc.
The site also offers progress/diagnostic quizzes (on the original site) which can help a learner find the most relevant material. But those diagnostic tools are not yet linked to the new versions of the activities.

This site offers online diagnostic quizzes as well as tutorials and practice activities on a number of grammar topics including adjectives, adverbs, the "be" verb, common errors, past tenses, and present tenses for Beginning-high to Intermediate-high ESL students.