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15A Grammar

Talk about hotel rooms

Unit 15

I CAN use there is / there are
I CAN describe a hotel room

Grammar

10 cards

We use there is and there are to say what exists in a place. Look at the pattern:

Sentence type	Singular (one thing)	Plural (more than one)
Positive	There is a bed.	There are two lamps.
Negative	There isn't a TV.	There aren't any chairs.
Question	Is there a desk?	Are there any windows?
Short answer	Yes, there is. / No, there isn't.	Yes, there are. / No, there aren't.

Remember:

There is (or there's) is for one thing (singular).
There are is for two or more things (plural).
In the negative and question, we use isn't / aren't.
We use any in questions and negatives: Are there any windows? — There aren't any pillows.
We can use some in positives: There are some pictures on the wall.

Look at these example sentences and notice the verb form changes:

There is a mirror on the wall.
There are three windows in the room.
There isn't a wardrobe, but there are some shelves.

Generating translation…

There is a small desk near the window.

Singular

There are two beds and a TV in the room.

Plural

Required

Look at the two sentences above. The verb after 'There' changes: 'is' or 'are'.

Required

There ___ (is / are) a wardrobe in the bedroom.

Required

There ___ (is / are) two lamps on the desk.

Required

Choose the correct sentence.

There are a bed in the room.
There is a bed in the room.
There is some beds in the room.

Required

There aren't ___ (any / some) windows in this room.

Required

Put the words in the correct order to make a question.

Are
there
any
pillows
in
the
room
?

Required

Complete each sentence with the correct form of 'be'.

isn't
are
is
aren't

There two pictures on the wall.

There a small lamp on the desk.

There any windows in the bathroom.

There a TV in the room.

Listening

5 cards

You arrive at a hotel in London. You go to the reception desk to ask about your room. The receptionist tells you what is in the room. Listen to the dialogue between Anna and the receptionist.

Before you listen, think: What do you want to know about your room? Maybe you want to know if there is a TV, a wardrobe, or a view.

Generating translation…

Anna arrives at a hotel in London and asks the receptionist about her room.

A
Anna Hello. I have a booking under the name Anna Smith.
R
Receptionist Hello, Anna. Welcome to the Park Hotel. Here is your key — room 305.
A
Anna Thanks. Is there a TV in the room?
R
Receptionist Yes, there is. The TV is opposite the bed.
A
Anna Great. Are there any windows with a nice view?
R
Receptionist Yes, there are. There are two big windows. You can see the river.
A
Anna Perfect. Is there a wardrobe too?
R
Receptionist Yes, there is a wardrobe and a small desk near the window.
A
Anna Wonderful. Thank you very much.
R
Receptionist You're welcome. Enjoy your stay.

Required

Where is Anna?

At a restaurant
At a hotel reception
At the airport

Required

What is opposite the bed?

a wardrobe
a desk
a TV

Required

There are ___ big windows in the room.

Pronunciation

6 cards

In this lesson we use the word there a lot: there is, there are, Is there…? The word there starts with a special sound: /ð/, the voiced 'th' sound.

How to make the sound:

Put the tip of your tongue between your teeth. Your tongue should stick out a little.
Let air flow over your tongue.
Turn on your voice — you should feel a vibration in your throat. Put your hand on your throat: you can feel it buzz.
Keep your mouth relaxed.

Compare it with the /θ/ sound in words like think:

/θ/ (unvoiced): put your tongue between your teeth, but do not use your voice. No buzz. think, thank, thin, three.
/ð/ (voiced): same tongue position, but use your voice. You can feel the buzz. there, this, the, that, they, brother.

The difference is voice. The tongue and mouth do exactly the same thing — only the voice is on or off.

Practice words with /ð/:

there — /ðeə/
this — /ðɪs/
the — /ðə/
that — /ðæt/
they — /ðeɪ/

Generating translation…

To make /ð/, put your tongue between your teeth, turn your voice ON, and let air flow. You should feel a buzz in your throat.

Required

Which word do you hear?

there
chair

Required

Which word do you hear?

this
miss

Required

Read the sentence. Focus on the /ð/ at the start of 'there'.

There is a bed in the room.

Required

Read the question. Keep your tongue between your teeth for 'there'.

Is there a TV?

Reading

6 cards

Strategy — Skimming: When you skim a text, you read it quickly to get the main idea. You don't read every word. Look at the first line and the last line. Look at the titles. This helps you understand the text in one minute.

Key words in this text:

comfortable — مريح (gives you a nice feeling, not hard)
modern — حديث/عصري (new style, not old)
view — إطلالة (what you see through the window)
quiet — هادئ (no noise)

Generating translation…

My hotel room in Edinburgh by Sara, 28 March

Last weekend I stayed at a small hotel in Edinburgh. My room was on the third floor. There was a big, comfortable bed and two small lamps on the desk. There was a wardrobe near the door and a mirror next to it.

There were two windows in the room, and there was a wonderful view of the castle. There was a modern bathroom with a shower.

The room was very quiet at night, and the bed was really comfortable. I loved it! There was only one problem: there wasn't a TV in the room, but I didn't need one. I want to go back next year.

Generating translation…

Required

What is the main idea of the blog post?

Sara doesn't like her hotel room.
Sara is happy with her hotel room in Edinburgh.
Sara works in a hotel in Edinburgh.

Required

There was a TV in the room.

Required

There were two windows in the room.

Required

What view did Sara have from the window?

the sea
the castle
a park

Speaking

6 cards

Now it's your turn to speak. Use these useful phrases to talk about a hotel room.

English phrase	AR gloss	When to use it
There is a ... in the room.	to describe one thing
There are two / three ...	to describe more than one
Is there a ... ?	to ask about one thing
Are there any ... ?	to ask about many things
There isn't a ...	to say one thing is missing
There aren't any ...	to say many things are missing

Generating translation…

A guest asks the receptionist about the room.

G
Guest Hi! Is there a TV in the room?
R
Receptionist Yes, there is. There is a TV opposite the bed.
G
Guest Are there any windows?
R
Receptionist Yes, there are two big windows with a nice view.
G
Guest Is there a wardrobe too?
R
Receptionist Yes, there is a wardrobe and a desk near the window.

There is a comfortable bed and a TV in the room.

Key model sentence

Required

Read the sentence aloud. Remember the /ð/ sound at the start of 'there'.

There is a wardrobe and a desk in the room.

Required

Read the question aloud. Use 'there are' in your head for the answer.

Are there any windows with a view?

Required

You are a guest at a hotel. Ask the receptionist about your room. Find out if there is a TV, a wardrobe, and how many windows there are. Use there is / there are.

Vocabulary

6 cards

When you stay in a hotel, your room has many things inside it. Let's learn the names of common things in a hotel room in English (UK). Look at the table below. Each word is a noun. We can use these words with there is and there are to describe a room.

Notice the small word a before bed, lamp, window and so on. We use a for one thing. When there is more than one, we add -s (two beds, three windows). Pay special attention to wardrobe — we say a wardrobe, not an wardrobe, because the sound starts with /w/.

Word	Type	Meaning (AR)
bed	noun	There is a big bed in the room.
lamp	noun	The lamp is on the desk.
window	noun	I can see a window near the door.
wardrobe	noun	My clothes are in the wardrobe.
mirror	noun	There is a mirror on the wall.
desk	noun	I work at the desk.
TV	noun	The TV is opposite the bed.
picture	noun	There is a picture above the bed.

All these words are things you can see in a hotel room. In the next section we will use them with there is and there are.

Generating translation…

Hotel room words

bed bed
A piece of furniture for sleeping on, consisting of a frame, mattress, and often bedding.
desk dɛsk
A piece of furniture with a flat top and legs, used for writing or working at.
lamp læmp
A lamp is a device that produces artificial light, typically using electricity, used to illuminate rooms, desk
mirror ˈmɪrə
A piece of glass or polished surface that shows your reflection. You use it to see how you look.
picture ˈpɪk.tʃər
a drawing , painting , photograph , etc.: an image seen on a television or cinema screen : a film : the cinema
wardrobe ˈwɔːdrəʊb
A large piece of furniture with doors and shelves or rods for storing clothes.
window ˈwɪndəʊ
A window is an opening in a wall or roof of a building with glass that lets in light and allows people to see