Grammar in EAP

Introductory “There”

Exercises 2; Answers

An English sentence such as “A discrepancy was in the experimental results.” is possible but unusual. The conventional academic way of putting it is to begin the sentence with “there” and postone the indefinite subject, which is then expanded by post-modification or an adverbial group: “There was a descrepancy in the experimental results“.

Rewrite the highlighetd section of the following sentences, starting with “There”.

1. There are quite a few animal species in danger of extinction.

2. A person stays indoors because he was misled into believing that there are poisonous fumes outside.

3. Before continuing with our main theme there are a few points that may need clarifying.

4. An exception arises only where there are concomitant changes that confer an advantage on the rarer types.

5. There were deliberate attempts to develop elements of both high and popular culture in music, poetry, dance, and games.

6. Before the Act there was a grey area of uncertainty surrounding these problems.

7. There is no evidence bearing on this suggestion and the matter must remain unresolved for the time being.

8. This is because, as I said earlier, there are so many different constituencies involved in the process.

9. There are very few people who are at present at their full potential for good health and good looks.

10. There are four types of social organization: isolated animals with mother, monogamous pairs, groups or bands with their parents, and colonial animals living in burrow systems.