there
Often confused with their and they're
- 1Used as the subject of 'be', or of verbs such as 'exist', 'seem', or 'appear', to say that something exists or happens, the real subject coming after the verb.
There is a train at six.
There have been complaints about the noise.
UsageThe verb usually agrees with the following noun phrase: there is a train, there have been complaints. Informally, there's also occurs before plurals.
Note
The 'there' of existence has lost its pointing: 'there is a problem' asserts a problem without placing it.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- Existential 'there' developed from locative 'there' and lost its independent meaning of location. files.eric.ed.gov
- 2In, at, or to a place that is stated or understood, away from the speaker.
We spent a week in Lisbon and ate grilled sardines there almost every night.
Look, there she is, by the gate.
UsageNo to before it: go there (not
incorrect: go to there).Oppositehere (entry)
Note
It is the place-word of 'that', paired with 'here' as 'that' is paired with 'this'. It points at a page as readily as a town, so long as the place sits away from the speaker. Older English kept motion apart with 'thither', but today 'there' covers going to that place as well as being in it.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- Older English had 'thither' specifically meaning 'to that place'. en.wiktionary.org
- 3In existence in some place or present somewhere, used after 'be'.
The original letter is still there, tucked away in a drawer.
The fear is still there, somewhere in the back of my mind, years after the accident.
UsageUsually after be, often with still or out: still there, out there somewhere.
Note
Existence with a place loosely attached: 'aliens are there, somewhere' claims that they exist without saying where. When the place is known, it becomes the ordinary 'at that place'. When even the place drops away, English switches to the dummy subject: there are aliens.
- 4At that point, stage, or step, pictured as a place.
The argument should have ended there.
Let me stop you there, because those numbers are from last year, not this one.
UsageOften with verbs of stopping and ending: stop there, leave it there, doesn't end there.
Note
A point in a sequence pictured as a spot on a road: a speech, a quarrel or a plan 'does not stop there' or 'does not end there'. Its noun partner is there as a noun, that point in a process.
Less common meanings
- 5Available to give help, support, or care, used after 'be' and usually with 'for'.
Whatever happens, we'll be there for you.
A good friend is someone who is simply there.
Note
Presence turned into loyalty: to 'be there for' someone is to be ready with help, whether near or far. Without 'for', it can shade back into plain existence in a place.
- 6That place or position, or that point in a situation or process, already mentioned or understood.
It's a long way from here to there.
The trail from here to there climbs steeply for the first mile.
UsageAfter a preposition: from there, from here to there.
Oppositehere (entry)
Note
The adverb turned into a thing: after prepositions such as 'from here to there', the place itself becomes an object. Gertrude Stein's 1937 'there is no there there', written on finding her Oakland childhood home gone, uses the middle 'there' as a noun for the place she remembered. The noun even takes a plural: Edward Casey writes in 1993 of actual and virtual 'theres'.
Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- Gertrude Stein's phrase 'there is no there there' appeared in Everybody's Autobiography, first published in 1937. content.ucpress.edu
- The remark concerns Stein's discovery that her Oakland childhood home was gone. quarterly.mills.edu
- Edward S. Casey used the plural 'theres' for actual and virtual places in Getting Back into Place (1993), page 54. en.wiktionary.org
- 7Added to a greeting or form of address for friendliness, or after 'you' as a summons.
Hey there, stranger, long time no see.
You there, stop that at once!
UsageAfter hi, hello or hey: hello there. You there! sounds like an order.
Note
The greeting points at the person greeted: 'hi there' is roughly 'hi, you over there', softened into a friendly tag.
- 8With 'go', into an undesirable or painful topic.
We could discuss the money, but I'd rather not go there.
Politics at dinner? Don't go there.
UsageMostly don't go there or let's not go there, asking to change the subject.
Note
Conversation as terrain: a touchy subject is a place, and raising it is going there. It comes straight from the plain 'to that place' sense.
- 9Used to comfort or encourage a child or someone distressed, usually doubled or with 'now'.
There, there, it was only a dream.
There now, sit down and get your breath.
Note
A soothing sound more than a pointing word: 'there, there' is what one says while patting a shoulder, and its meaning lies in the tone. It is nearly always doubled or followed by 'now' ('there now'). Said sharply instead, the same word becomes the cry of a finished job.
- 10Used to mark a job finished or a point proved, expressing completion or triumph.
There, the last screw is in.
I won, so there!
UsageShort and stressed, often standing alone: There! The phrase so there! sounds childish.
Note
The pointing word aimed at an achievement: 'There! That knot should hold' presents the finished job as if to say 'look'. It is short and stressed, usually standing alone before the sentence that explains it, unlike the murmured comfort of its soothing twin.
- 11In that matter, respect, or point.
I can't help you there, I'm afraid.
She's got a point there.
Note
A point of argument treated as a spot to stand on: 'I agree with you there' concedes that one point and no further. Unlike the 'stage in a sequence' sense, it marks a respect, not a moment.
- 12Mentally sound and competent, used after 'be', usually with 'all', 'quite', or 'totally'.
Poor old chap, he's not all there any more.
Are you all there? You just put the milk in the cupboard.
UsageMostly in not all there or still all there. It judges someone's mind and can hurt.
Note
Presence of mind as literal presence: someone who is 'not all there' is partly missing from their own head.
- 13Used after a person's name or description to point them out as located away from the speaker.
My friend there will vouch for me.
Our man there at the back has a question.
UsageRight after the name, with no comma: Jim there, my friend there.
Note
A verbal nod at someone in the room: 'Jim there has been with the company for twenty years' picks Jim out by pointing rather than by title. The near-side version uses 'here' ('Jim here'), and dialect extends the same pointing to 'that there' and 'them there'.
- 14That, combined with a following preposition in compounds that are no longer newly formed.
The lease and all rights thereunder passed to his heirs.
She hid the letter and never spoke of it thereafter.
UsageMostly in formal and legal writing. Do not confuse therefor ('for that') with therefore ('for that reason').
Note
A fossil compound-maker: joined to a preposition, 'there' meant 'that', so 'thereat' is 'at that' and 'thereunder' is 'under that'. No new words are formed this way, but the old ones survive in formal and legal prose, as in 'the rights thereunder'.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
- 'There' has the sense 'that' in established compounds with prepositions. en.wiktionary.org
- This compound-forming pattern is no longer productive. en.wiktionary.org
- 'Thereat' combines 'there' with 'at', meaning 'at that'. en.wiktionary.org
- 'Thereunder' combines 'there' with 'under', meaning 'under that'. en.wiktionary.org
- 15After 'be', in its correct position, fully and properly fitted or inserted.
Give the cartridge one more push; it's not quite there until it clicks.
One more shove and the bolt was there.
UsageSaid aloud while fitting something: it's there!, not quite there. In writing, in place is clearer.
Note
The right place, reached: a plug, bolt or drawer is 'there' once it has seated fully.
- 16Used after certain determiners, especially 'them', 'that', and 'those', to reinforce the pointing.
Who owns them there horses?
That there road goes to the mill.
UsageStandard English puts the word after the noun: those chickens there.
Note
A doubled demonstrative: 'those' already points, and 'there' points again, as in 'those there chickens' or 'them there boys'.
- 17Where; in which place.
Note
A relative 'where', now gone: 'the field there the battle was fought' meant the field where it was fought. A modern reader who meets it in older verse or prose should read 'there' as 'where'. It has no place in present-day writing, where it would look like a slip; it is worth knowing only for decoding older texts.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts
- There formerly had the relative meaning 'where' or 'in which place'. en.wiktionary.org
- The illustrative phrase uses there to mean where, as readers should understand this historical sense. en.wiktionary.org
Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origin
This word comes from Middle English there, from Old English þǣr ("there; at that place"), going back through Proto-Germanic *þar to a Proto-Indo-European form built on the demonstrative base *to- ("the, that") plus an adverbial suffix. It is related to Dutch daar, German da, Swedish där, and Icelandic þar.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
- There descends from Middle English there and Old English þǣr, meaning “there; at that place.” en.wiktionary.org
- The Old English word descends from Proto-Germanic *þar. en.wiktionary.org
- The Proto-Indo-European ancestor combines demonstrative *to-, meaning “the, that,” with an adverbial suffix. en.wiktionary.org
- Dutch daar, German da, Swedish där, and Icelandic þar are cognates. en.wiktionary.org