there be

Word Rarity Common

Frequency: Zipf frequency 6.18 in modern English

Syllables: there be
IPA

Scrabble Score

Letters

Syllables

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

Of the specified thing: to exist, physically or abstractly.

Example Sentences

"Let there be light."
"There are two apples on the table. [=Two apples are on the table.]"
"There is no way to do it. [=No way to do it exists.]"
"Is there an answer? [=Does an answer exist?]"
"No, there isn't. [=No, one doesn't exist.]"
"There seems to be some difficulty with the papers. [=It seems that there is some difficulty with the papers.]"

Etymology

The expletive there, from Old English þær, to fill the first position in English's historic V2 word order.

Origin

Source language: Old English

Word Breakdown

Root: þær

Inflected Forms

no-table-tags (table tags) glossary (inflection template) - (infinitive) - (first person, present) - (first person, past) - (present, second person) - (past, second person) there is (present, singular) there's (present, singular) there was (past, singular) there are (plural, present) there're (plural, present)

Phrases

as if there is no tomorrow as if there's no tomorrow as if there was no tomorrow as if there were no tomorrow if ever there was one if ever there were one if ever there were some if there's grass on the field, play ball

Frequently Paired Words

Synonyms

there exist