Adult ESL/ELL High Beginner Quiz: Be Have And There Is Are
10 questions · exam conditions
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Be Have And There Is AreQuestion 1 of 10

Maria moved to a new apartment last week. She tells her friend about it.

Maria says: 'My apartment   two bedrooms, but   only one bathroom on each floor.' Which answer correctly completes both blanks?

has / there is
is / there are
has / there are
is / there is
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Adult ESL/ELL High Beginner Quiz

Adult ESL/ELL High Beginner Quiz: Be Have And There Is Are

Practice Be Have And There Is Are in Adult ESL/ELL High Beginner with focused quiz questions that help you check what you know, review explanations, and build confidence with test-style prompts.

What this quiz covers

This quiz focuses on Be Have And There Is Are, giving you a quick way to practice the rules, question types, and explanations that matter most for Adult ESL/ELL High Beginner.

How to use this quiz

Try each quiz question before looking at the correct answer. Use the explanations to review missed ideas, then come back to similar questions until the pattern feels familiar.

All questions

Question 1

Maria moved to a new apartment last week. She tells her friend about it.

Maria says: 'My apartment   two bedrooms, but   only one bathroom on each floor.' Which answer correctly completes both blanks?

  1. has / there is (correct answer)
  2. is / there are
  3. has / there are
  4. is / there is
Explanation: When completing sentences in English, you need to match the verb to its subject. This question tests two grammar structures: "have/has" for possession and "there is/there are" for existence. For the first blank, the subject is "My apartment" — a single place, so it needs the singular verb "has." Apartments don't use "is" for possession; you say "My apartment has two bedrooms," just like "She has a car." This immediately eliminates choices B and D, which both use "is" instead of "has." For the second blank, you're introducing something that exists in a location — that's the "there is / there are" structure. The key rule: use "there is" with singular nouns and "there are" with plural nouns. The noun here is "one bathroom," which is singular, so you need "there is one bathroom." This eliminates choice C, which incorrectly pairs "there are" with a singular noun. That leaves A — "has / there is" — as the correct answer. The sentence reads: "My apartment has two bedrooms, but there is only one bathroom on each floor." Both verbs match their subjects perfectly. To review why each wrong answer fails: B uses "is" instead of "has" for possession AND "there are" with a singular noun — two errors. C gets "has" right but uses "there are" with a singular noun. D uses "is" instead of "has" for possession. A quick tip to remember: always find the noun that follows "there is/are" and ask yourself — is it one or more than one? That single check will save you on many grammar questions.

Question 2

Read the short conversation: Kevin: 'Is your brother at work today?' Sandra: 'No, he   sick. He   a bad cold and a high fever.'

Which answer correctly fills in both blanks in Sandra's response?

  1. is / has (correct answer)
  2. has / is
  3. is / there is
  4. has / has
Explanation: When filling in blanks like these, ask yourself: what kind of verb fits the situation? English uses "to be" (is/are/am) to describe states or conditions, and "to have" (has/have) to describe possessions or physical symptoms. In Sandra's response, the first blank describes her brother's condition — he is in a sick state. The correct verb here is "is" (he is sick). The second blank introduces specific symptoms he's experiencing — a cold and a fever. These are things he has, so the correct verb is "has" (he has a bad cold and a high fever). That makes A) is / has the correct answer. Looking at the wrong choices: B) has / is reverses the two verbs. "He has sick" is incorrect English — you cannot have a condition like sickness the way you have an object. And "he is a bad cold" makes no sense because a person cannot be a cold. C) is / there is uses "there is" incorrectly — "there is" introduces something new into a sentence (like "there is a doctor here"), not a symptom someone possesses. D) has / has uses "has" twice, which fails for the same reason as B — "he has sick" is simply not correct English grammar. A helpful tip: when you see health or emotion words like sick, tired, happy, angry, pair them with "to be." When you see nouns for symptoms or illnesses like a cold, a fever, a headache, pair them with "to have." This pattern appears frequently in everyday English conversations.

Question 3

Which sentence correctly uses 'have' or 'has' with a basic modifier to describe possession?

  1. The students has a very difficult homework tonight.
  2. My sister have two really close friends at her new job.
  3. Our teacher has a very clear and helpful explanation. (correct answer)
  4. There have a small garden behind the old library.
Explanation: When using "have" and "has," the rule is simple: use has with singular subjects (he, she, it, one person or thing) and have with plural subjects or I/you. The tricky part is that modifiers — describing words like "very clear" or "really close" — don't change this rule at all. Choice C is correct because "our teacher" is a singular subject (one person), so it correctly pairs with "has." The modifier phrase "very clear and helpful" simply describes the explanation — it doesn't affect subject-verb agreement. Everything in this sentence follows the rules perfectly. Choice A has a subject-verb agreement error: "the students" is plural, so it needs "have," not "has." Don't let the word "very difficult" distract you — the modifier has nothing to do with choosing between have/has. Choice B makes the opposite mistake. "My sister" is singular (one person), so it requires "has," not "have." Again, the modifier "really close" is just describing the friends and doesn't change the agreement rule. Choice D has a structural problem that goes beyond have/has. "There" is not a real subject — it's a placeholder word. This sentence doesn't make grammatical sense. You would need to write something like "There is a small garden" (using "is" because "garden" is singular) for it to work correctly. A helpful tip: before choosing "have" or "has," find the true subject of the sentence and ask yourself — is it one thing or more than one? One thing → "has." More than one → "have." Modifiers and long descriptions in between can't change that rule.

Question 4

Jin is describing his classroom to a new student.

Jin says: '  twenty desks in the room. The desks   very old, but they   enough space for your books.' Which option correctly completes all three blanks?

  1. There are / are / have (correct answer)
  2. There is / are / have
  3. There are / have / are
  4. There are / are / are
Explanation: When completing sentences in English, you need to match your verb to the subject — this is called subject-verb agreement. Pay close attention to whether a subject is singular or plural, and choose the verb form that matches. Let's walk through the sentence. The first blank introduces "twenty desks," which is a plural noun. In English, we use "There are" (not "There is") when the noun that follows is plural. "There is" is only correct for singular nouns — for example, "There is one desk." The second blank has "The desks" as its subject. Since "desks" is plural, you need the plural verb "are" — so "The desks are very old" is correct. The third blank is the trickiest. "They have enough space" means the desks contain or provide space. The verb "have" is correct here because it expresses possession or capacity. Saying "they are enough space" would mean the desks equal space, which doesn't make sense in context. Now for the wrong answers: B fails immediately because "There is twenty desks" is grammatically incorrect — plural subjects require "are," not "is." C uses "have" in the second blank ("The desks have very old"), but "have" doesn't describe a quality or condition — "are" does. D uses "are" in the third blank ("they are enough space"), which is illogical because desks don't equal space; they have space. That makes A — There are / are / have — the correct answer. Study tip: Always ask two questions: How many? (singular or plural → is/are) and What does the verb mean? (being/describing → are; owning/containing → have).

Question 5

Read this short note from a roommate: 'Hi! I cleaned the apartment today.   some fresh food in the refrigerator for dinner. The kitchen   really clean now. Also, we   no more dish soap, so please buy some.'

Which set of verbs correctly completes all three blanks in the note?

  1. There is / is / are
  2. There are / is / have
  3. There is / has / have
  4. There is / is / have (correct answer)
Explanation: When filling in blanks like these, you need to match the verb to the subject of each sentence — this question is testing subject-verb agreement and the structure "there is/are." For the first blank, the subject is "some fresh food," which is an uncountable noun (food can't be counted as individual items here). Uncountable nouns use singular verbs, so "There is" is correct. For the second blank, "the kitchen" is a singular subject, so it takes is — "The kitchen is really clean now." For the third blank, "we" is a plural subject, so it needs a plural verb. "We have no more dish soap" is the natural, correct phrasing in English. That gives you D) There is / is / have — the correct answer. Looking at the wrong choices: A) There is / is / are gets the first two blanks right but fails on the third. "We are no more dish soap" is grammatically incorrect — "are" doesn't pair with "have no more." B) There are / is / have uses "There are" for the first blank, but "some fresh food" is uncountable and singular, so "are" is wrong there. C) There is / has / have gets the first blank right but uses "has" for the second — "The kitchen has really clean" is incorrect because "has" doesn't work as a linking verb describing a state; "is" is needed here. A helpful tip: always identify the subject of each blank before choosing a verb. Ask yourself: Is the subject singular or plural? Is it a person, place, or thing? This habit will help you on any subject-verb agreement question.

Question 6

Anna is writing a short paragraph about her city for her English class.

Anna writes: 'My city   very beautiful in the spring.   many colorful flowers in the parks, and the weather   always warm and sunny.' Which set of verbs correctly completes the paragraph?

  1. has / There are / is
  2. is / There are / is (correct answer)
  3. is / There is / is
  4. is / There are / has
Explanation: When filling in blanks with verb forms, you need to match each verb to its subject. Ask yourself: What is the subject of this sentence, and does the verb agree with it? The first blank follows "My city," which is a singular subject. The correct verb is is — we say "My city is beautiful," not "has beautiful." The second blank introduces a new idea about flowers in the parks. This is a classic "There is / There are" construction, and since "flowers" is plural, you need There are. The third blank follows "the weather," another singular subject, so the correct verb is again is — "the weather is always warm." That gives you is / There are / is, which is answer B. Looking at the wrong choices: A fails immediately because "My city has very beautiful" makes no grammatical sense — "has" requires an object (you have something), and beauty is described with "be," not "have." C uses "There is many colorful flowers," which is a subject-verb agreement error — "flowers" is plural, so you cannot use the singular "is." D ends with "the weather has always warm and sunny," which repeats the same "has vs. is" confusion from choice A — adjectives like warm and sunny need the verb be, not have. A useful tip: whenever you see a blank before an adjective (beautiful, warm, sunny), the verb almost always needs to be a form of be (is, are, was, were) — not have or has.

Question 7

Which sentence uses 'there is' or 'there are' correctly with the right modifier?

  1. There are a tall building near the school.
  2. There is three comfortable chairs in the waiting room.
  3. There is a very long line outside the store today. (correct answer)
  4. There are much noise coming from the street right now.
Explanation: When using there is and there are, two things must match: the verb form and the noun that follows it. Use there is with singular nouns, and there are with plural nouns. You also need to watch that modifiers like a/an, much, or many agree with the noun and verb as well. Choice C is correct because "a very long line" is singular — one line — so there is is the right verb. The modifier a correctly signals a singular noun, and the description "very long" simply adds detail without changing anything. Everything agrees. Choice A fails because "a tall building" is singular, but it uses there are (plural). You can't pair a singular noun with there are. It should be there is a tall building. Choice B has the opposite problem. "Three comfortable chairs" is plural — three chairs — so it requires there are, not there is. The number three is a clear signal that the noun is plural. Choice D misuses the quantifier much. "Much" is used with uncountable nouns in statements (like much water or much time), but "noise" here is being treated as a countable, observable thing happening right now. More importantly, there are requires a plural countable noun — so the correct phrasing would be there is much noise or there is a lot of noise. A quick tip to remember: always look at the noun after there is/are, not the modifier before it. Ask yourself — is it one, or more than one? That single question will guide your choice every time.

Question 8

Which sentence contains an error in the use of 'be,' 'have,' or 'there is/are'?

  1. The new library has several quiet study rooms on the second floor.
  2. There are a few good restaurants near the busy downtown area.
  3. My parents are very proud and happy about my recent progress.
  4. The children in that class has a really talented and kind teacher. (correct answer)
Explanation: When using the verb "have" in English, subject-verb agreement is essential — the subject and verb must match in number. Singular subjects take "has," while plural subjects take "have." This question asks you to spot which sentence breaks that rule. Look at choice D: "The children in that class has a really talented and kind teacher." The subject is "children," which is a plural noun. Plural subjects require "have," not "has." The correct sentence should read: "The children in that class have a really talented and kind teacher." This is the error, making D the correct answer. Now let's confirm why the other choices are correct. In choice A, the subject is "The new library" — singular — and the verb "has" is singular, so they match perfectly. In choice B, "There are a few good restaurants" correctly uses "are" because "restaurants" is plural, and "there is/are" must agree with the noun that follows it. In choice C, "My parents are very proud" is correct because "parents" is plural and pairs properly with "are." A common trap in subject-verb agreement is the phrase that comes between the subject and the verb. In sentence D, "in that class" appears between "children" and "has," which can distract you from noticing the mismatch. Always go back and identify the true subject of the sentence before checking the verb. A quick study tip: if the subject ends in -ren, -men, or -people (children, women, people), it is always plural and needs "have" or "are."

Question 9

A student wants to say that a store does not possess any large sizes in a jacket. Which sentence expresses this idea correctly?

  1. There isn't any large sizes of that jacket at the store.
  2. The store doesn't have any large sizes of that jacket. (correct answer)
  3. The store isn't have any large sizes of that jacket.
  4. There aren't any large sizes of that jacket at the store.
Explanation: When a question asks you to express that something is not available or not possessed by someone or something, focus on two things: subject-verb agreement and correct verb structure. The idea here is that "the store" is the subject doing (or not doing) the possessing. Answer B — "The store doesn't have any large sizes of that jacket" — is correct because it uses the proper negative construction: subject + doesn't + base verb (have). This is the standard way to express that a person or place lacks something, and it's grammatically clean. Now let's look at why the others fall short. A says "There isn't any large sizes," but isn't is singular and large sizes is plural — these don't agree. You need aren't with a plural noun, not isn't. C writes "The store isn't have any large sizes," which is a common learner error: you cannot combine isn't with a main verb like have. The negative of have as a main verb is don't/doesn't have, not isn't have. D says "There aren't any large sizes of that jacket at the store," which actually fixes the subject-verb agreement problem from A — aren't correctly matches the plural sizes — but the sentence uses there are instead of putting the store as the subject. While D is grammatically possible in informal English, the question specifically asks about the store possessing something, making B the more precise and natural fit. As a study tip, remember: use don't/doesn't have to talk about what someone or something lacks, and always match your verb to your subject — singular subjects take isn't/doesn't, plural subjects take aren't/don't.

Question 10

A student writes: 'In my neighborhood, there is many old houses and a very busy park.' What is the BEST correction for this sentence?

  1. In my neighborhood, there are many old houses and a very busy park. (correct answer)
  2. In my neighborhood, there is many old houses and there is a very busy park.
  3. In my neighborhood, there are many old houses and there are a very busy park.
  4. In my neighborhood, there is a very busy park and many old houses.
Explanation: When a sentence uses "there is" or "there are," the verb must agree with the subject that comes after it — not with whatever word appears first. This is called subject-verb agreement, and it's the key concept being tested here. In the original sentence, "there is many old houses and a very busy park" is incorrect because the subject is plural — it includes many old houses (plural) AND a very busy park, making it a compound subject joined by "and." A compound subject with "and" is treated as plural, so it requires "there are," not "there is." Choice A makes exactly this correction: "there are many old houses and a very busy park." One "there are" covers the entire compound subject cleanly and correctly — this is the right answer. Choice B keeps "there is" in both clauses, which is still wrong. "There is many old houses" is incorrect because "houses" is plural and requires "are," not "is." Choice C uses "there are" for the first clause, which is good, but then writes "there are a very busy park" — incorrect because "a very busy park" is singular and should use "there is." Choice D rearranges the sentence but keeps "there is" at the beginning, covering both subjects. Since the full subject is still compound and plural, "there is" remains wrong. A quick tip to remember: when you see "there is/are," mentally flip the sentence to find the real subject. Ask yourself, is the subject singular or plural? That answer tells you whether to use "is" or "are."