From Middle Englishthere, ther, thare, thar, thore, from Old Englishþēr, þǣr, þār(“there; at that place”), from Proto-West Germanic*þār, from Proto-Germanic*þar(“at that place; there”), from Proto-Indo-European*tó-r(“there”), from demonstrative pronominal base *to-(“the, that”) + adverbial suffix *-r̥.
Cognate with Scotsthar, thair(“there”), North Frisiandear, deer, där(“there”), Saterland Frisiandeer(“there”), West Frisiandêr(“there”), Dutchdaar(“there”), Low Germandar(“there”), Germanda, dar-(“there”), Danishder(“there”), Norwegiander(“there”), Swedishdär(“there”), Icelandicþar(“in that place, there”).
Pronunciation
(UK)
(stressed) IPA(key): /ðɛə(ɹ)/, /ðɛː(ɹ)/
(unstressed) IPA(key): /ðə(ɹ)/
(US)
(stressed) IPA(key): /ðɛɚ/, /ðɛɹ/
(unstressed) IPA(key): /ðɚ/
(General Australian)
(stressed) IPA(key): /ðeː(ɹ)/
(unstressed) IPA(key): /ðə(ɹ)/
Homophones: their, they're
Rhymes: -ɛə(ɹ)
Adverb
there (not comparable)
(location) In a place or location (stated, implied or otherwise indicated) at some distance from the speaker (compare here).
1769, King James Bible, Oxford Standard text, Genesis, 2, viii,
The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.
(figuratively) In that matter, relation, etc.; at that point, stage, etc., regarded as a distinct place.
(location) To or into that place; thither.
1769, King James Bible, Oxford Standard text, Job, 28, vii,
There is a path which no fowl knoweth, and which the vulture's eye hath not seen:
(obsolete) Where, there where, in which place.
In this world, used to say that someone or something exists; see pronoun section below.
Usage notes
The use of there instead of they're (meaning they are) or their (possessive form of they) is a common homophonic error in English writing.
(to or into that place):
There is sometimes used by way of exclamation, calling attention to something, especially to something distant; such as in the phrases There, there!, See there and Look there!
There is often used as an expletive, and in this use, when it introduces a sentence or clause, the verb precedes its subject.
There is much used in composition, and often has the sense of a pronoun. See thereabout, thereafter, therefrom, etc.
Synonyms
(at or in a place):over there, away there(at some distance); thither(archaic); yonder(archaic or dialect)
(to or into that place):over there, away there(at some distance); thither(archaic); yonder(archaic or dialect)
Translations
Interjection
there
Used to offer encouragement or sympathy.
There, there. Everything is going to turn out all right.
Used to express victory or completion.
There! That knot should hold.
Translations
Noun
there (pluraltheres)
That place.
That status; that position.
You rinse and de-string the green beans; I'll take it from there.
Translations
Pronoun
there
Used as an expletive subject of be in its sense of “exist”, with the semantic, usually indefinite subject being postponed or (occasionally) implied.
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.]
1908, C. H. Bovill (lyrics), Jerome D. Kern (music), There’s Something Rather Odd About Augustus, song from the musical Fluffy Ruffles,
It's very sad but all the same, / There’s something rather odd about Augustus.
1909, Leo Tolstoy, translator not mentioned, There are No Guilty People, in The Forged Coupon and Other Stories,
There was a time when I tried to change my position, which was not in harmony with my conscience; […].
Used with other intransitive verbs of existence, in the same sense, or with other intransitive verbs, adding a sense of existence.
If x is a positive number, then there exists [=there is] a positive number y less than x.
There remain several problems with this approach. [=Several problems remain with this approach.]
Once upon a time, in a now-forgotten kingdom, there lived a woodsman with his wife. [=There was a woodsman, who lived with his wife.]
There arose a great wind out of the east. [=There was now a great wind, arising in the east.]
1895, Sabine Baring-Gould, A Book of Nursery Songs and Rhymes: Nursery Songs, XXII: The Tree in the Wood,
All in a wood there grew a fine tree,
1897, James Baldwin, The Story of Abraham Lincoln: The Kentucky Home, in Four Great Americans,
Not far from Hodgensville, in Kentucky, there once lived a man whose name was Thomas Lincoln.
1904, Uriel Waldo Cutler, Stories of King Arthur and His Knights, Chapter XXXI: How Sir Launcelot Found the Holy Grail,
On a night, as he slept, there came a vision unto him, and a voice said, "Launcelot, arise up, and take thine armour, and enter into the first ship that thou shalt find."
Used with other verbs, when raised.
There seems to be some difficulty with the papers. [=It seems that there is some difficulty with the papers.]
I expected there to be a simpler solution. [=I expected that there would be a simpler solution.]
There are beginning to be complications. [=It's beginning to be the case that there are complications.]
There have to be two people at the post.
(in combination with certain prepositions, no longer productive) That.
therefor, thereat, thereunder
(colloquial)Appended to words of greeting etc.
Hi there, young fellow.
Oh, hello there, Bob, how are you doing?
2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)
Hi there! I’m Anna and I live in Washington, D.C.
Usage notes
In formal English, the verb agrees with the semantic subject: “there is a tree”, “there are some trees”, “there seems to be a mistake”, “there seem to be some mistakes”, and so on. This is because the "there [form of be]" construction originally used, and could still be said to use, "there" as simply an adverb modifying "to be". However, the syntax is archaic enough that "there" is rarely recognized as an adverb. In colloquial usage, therefore, the verb is often found in the third-person singular form, even when the semantic subject is plural — “there’s some trees”, “there seems to be some mistakes” — but this is often considered incorrect.