Grammatical pattern: there + VERB + NOUN

The idea of the existence or appearance of something, especially in a particular location or at a particular time, is often expressed in English by the use of this pattern beginning with the word “there,” which serves as a grammatical placeholder for the true, “notional” subject of the sentence, which is put after the verb.  In the example “There is a pen in that drawer,” the real subject (the thing that is said to exist) is “a pen.” It is also possible to say “A pen is in that drawer,” putting the notional subject in the grammatical subject position, but doing this communicates something a little different from the sentence beginning with “there is.”  When we say “A pen is in that drawer,” we are telling someone what type of thing (of all the things in the world) is in the drawer.   When we say “There is a pen in that drawer,” we are telling of the existence of a pen and the location of that pen.

The most common verb used to express existence in English is the verb “be,” and sentences beginning with “there is” or “there are,” for example, are extremely common in English.  Certain other verbs can follow this pattern as well (“appear,” “exist,” “arise,” etc.), but they do not occur in this pattern as frequently as the verb “be.”  One generally encounters these other verbs in relatively formal speech, writing, or storytelling--especially when the notional subject of the sentence is quite long, as, for example, in the sentence “There arose a cloud of swirling red dust so thick that they could not see the road in front of them.”

Verbs that follow the pattern [there  +  VERB  +  NOUN]

appear, arise, be, come, develop, enter, exist, follow, live, occur, remain

Additional examples of the pattern [there  +  VERB  +  NOUN]

There is a new set of traffic lights at that intersection.

There followed a terrible rumbling noise.

There existed at that time an old book shop on the corner of that street.

There subsequently developed several problems that no one had foreseen.

There arose such a clamor outside that no one could be heard in the courtroom.

Once upon a time, there lived a kindly old carpenter in a small cottage on the edge of the forest.

There occurred an incident in the town that summer that not a soul living there would ever forget.