THERE + modality + TO BE – English Grammar Profiler
In the English Grammar Profile, B2 point 50 in the category of VERBS is defined as:
‘there’ with other verbs with modal meaning + ‘be’ + complement.
The EGP modality examples contain: ‘need, have, is going + to’
However, in the English Vocabulary Profile, ‘there needs to be’ is listed at C2 with the following example:
There needs to be more funding for education in this country.
And at C1 ‘ought to’ is listed in the EGP for a desired state of affairs:
So there ought to be one fairy for every boy and girl.
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Also, note that there are various common verbs that have a modal meaning which might fit this structure:
appear, feel, know, reckon, suppose, believe, gather, look, seem, tend, expect, guess, promise, sound, think
An iWeb search for
there_EX * to be *
1 THERE SEEMS TO BE A 19253 (‘seem’ is a verb that carries modal meaning)
There seems to be a lot of confusion on this next question.
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2 THERE HAS TO BE A 10944
Writing is a form of expressing how one feels but there has to be a limit to the amount that one can express through writing.
PELIC STUDENT: Arabic, Male, LEVEL 4, writing class.
3 THERE NEEDS TO BE A 9778 4 THERE SEEMS TO BE NO 6960
5 THERE APPEARS TO BE A 5777
There appears to be none.
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6 THERE USED TO BE A 5232 7 THERE SEEMS TO BE SOME 3604 8 THERE HAS TO BE SOME 3325
9 THERE HAD TO BE A 3313
There had to be a second man.
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10 THERE APPEARS TO BE NO 3208 11 THERE SEEMS TO BE AN 3090 12 THERE SEEMED TO BE A 2137 13 THERE NEEDS TO BE SOME 2007 14 THERE NEEDS TO BE AN 1669 15 THERE NEEDS TO BE MORE 1655 16 THERE HAS TO BE SOMETHING 1640 17 THERE HAS TO BE AN 1546 18 THERE IS TO BE A 1316 19 THERE SEEMS TO BE LITTLE 1195 20 THERE SEEMED TO BE NO 1110 21 THERE APPEARS TO BE SOME 994
22 THERE OUGHT TO BE A 968 C1
23 THERE SEEMS TO BE MORE 968 24 THERE APPEARS TO BE AN 960 25 THERE SEEMS TO BE SOMETHING 946
26 THERE TENDS TO BE A 854
There tends to be water at the base of the ice sheet here.
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27 THERE WAS TO BE NO 828 28 THERE CONTINUES TO BE A 800 29 THERE WAS TO BE A 728 30 THERE HAD TO BE SOME 677 31 THERE USED TO BE AN 603 32 THERE APPEARED TO BE A 574 33 THERE HAS TO BE MORE 562 34 THERE HAPPENS TO BE A 560 35 THERE USED TO BE . 555 36 THERE IS TO BE NO 533 37 THERE HAD TO BE SOMETHING 525 38 THERE APPEARED TO BE NO 504 39 THERE APPEARS TO BE LITTLE 498 40 THERE NEEDED TO BE A 492 41 THERE SEEMS TO BE SO 472 42 THERE SEEMS TO BE TWO 446 43 THERE SEEMS TO BE NOTHING 440 44 THERE SEEMS TO BE QUITE 440 45 THERE SEEMS TO BE THIS 438 46 THERE SEEMS TO BE VERY 425 47 THERE HAD TO BE AN 409 48 THERE SEEMED TO BE SOME 370 49 THERE NEEDS TO BE SOMETHING 370 50 THERE WERE TO BE A 351 51 THERE IS TO BE ANY 334 52 THERE USED TO BE , 323 53 THERE SEEMED TO BE AN 317 54 THERE HAS TO BE AT 305 55 THERE SEEMS TO BE ONLY 305 56 THERE SEEMS TO BE PLENTY 305 57 THERE OUGHT TO BE SOME 288 58 THERE HAVE TO BE SOME 261 59 THERE HAS TO BE ANOTHER 260 60 THERE HAPPENED TO BE A 258 61 THERE SEEMS TO BE ONE 234 62 THERE SEEMS TO BE MANY 217 63 THERE SEEM TO BE A 212 64 THERE WERE TO BE NO 212 65 THERE USED TO BE SOME 211 66 THERE SEEMS TO BE THE 203 67 THERE IS TO BE AN 202 68 THERE HAS TO BE SOMEONE 191 69 THERE USED TO BE TWO 172 70 THERE APPEARS TO BE SOMETHING 166 71 THERE SEEMS TO BE TOO 165 72 THERE SEEMS TO BE LOTS 162 73 THERE ARE TO BE NO 157 74 THERE IS TO BE FOUND 148 75 THERE NEEDS TO BE AT 147 76 THERE APPEARS TO BE TWO 146 77 THERE HAVE TO BE A 146 78 THERE LOOKS TO BE A 146 79 THERE NEEDS TO BE GREATER 144 80 THERE HAS TO BE THE 141 81 THERE SUPPOSED TO BE A 134 82 THERE NEEDS TO BE ENOUGH 128 83 THERE NEEDS TO BE BETTER 128 84 THERE SEEMS TO BE ANOTHER 127 85 THERE SEEMS TO BE AT 121 86 THERE GOING TO BE A 121 87 THERE APPEARS TO BE NOTHING 120 88 THERE USED TO BE MANY 118 89 THERE SEEM TO BE NO 114 90 THERE SEEMS TO BE LESS 113 91 THERE SEEMS TO BE SEVERAL 113 92 THERE HAS TO BE ENOUGH 111 93 THERE WAS TO BE AN 111 94 THERE HAS TO BE ONE 110 95 THERE HAD TO BE ANOTHER 110 96 THERE SEEMS TO BE ALOT 106 97 THERE USED TO BE ONE 106 98 THERE APPEARS TO BE VERY 104 99 THERE OUGHT TO BE NO 104
100 THERE SEEMED TO BE SOMETHING 101
there_EX * * to be
1 THERE’S GOING TO BE 12926 2 THERE ARE GOING TO BE 10395 3 THERE IS GOING TO BE 8914 4 THERE IS SOMETHING TO BE 3434 5 THERE WAS GOING TO BE 3319 6 THERE IS LIKELY TO BE 3242 7 THERE’S GOT TO BE 2620 8 THERE ARE LIKELY TO BE 2559 9 THERE ARE BOUND TO BE 2493 10 THERE WOULD HAVE TO BE 2328 11 THERE IS MUCH TO BE 2318 12 THERE DOES SEEM TO BE 2257 13 THERE’S SOMETHING TO BE 2196 14 THERE IS NOTHING TO BE 2178 15 THERE’S BOUND TO BE 1853 16 THERE IS BOUND TO BE 1732 17 THERE IS SURE TO BE 1680 18 THERE WOULD NEED TO BE 1335 19 THERE WILL NEED TO BE 1294 20 THERE WILL CONTINUE TO BE 1161 21 THERE WILL HAVE TO BE 1132 22 THERE’S NOTHING TO BE 1108 23 THERE’S SURE TO BE 1098 24 THERE HAS GOT TO BE 1001 25 THERE IS SUPPOSED TO BE 966 26 THERE IS MONEY TO BE 892 27 THERE WERE GOING TO BE 888 28 THERE WAS NOTHING TO BE 864 29 THERE ARE SURE TO BE 823 30 THERE ‘S LIKELY TO BE 775 31 THERE DOES APPEAR TO BE 766 32 THERE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE 758 33 THERE IS MORE TO BE 706 34 THERE HAS YET TO BE 662 35 THERE IS WORK TO BE 643 36 THERE ARE LESSONS TO BE 629 37 THERE WOULD SEEM TO BE 619 38 THERE IS UNLIKELY TO BE 615 39 THERE’S SUPPOSED TO BE 483 40 THERE IS LITTLE TO BE 444 41 THERE ‘S MONEY TO BE 440 42 THERE IS SAID TO BE 406 43 THERE ARE ESTIMATED TO BE 402 44 THERE WOULD APPEAR TO BE 388 45 THERE’S MUCH TO BE 385 46 THERE ARE THOUGHT TO BE 364 47 THERE’S WORK TO BE 363 48 THERE ARE SUPPOSED TO BE 361 49 THERE IS EXPECTED TO BE 360 50 THERE ARE SAID TO BE 355 51 THERE ARE REASONS TO BE 337 52 THERE IS REASON TO BE 321 53 THERE DOES NEED TO BE 312 54 THERE ALWAYS SEEMS TO BE 300 55 THERE MAY NEED TO BE 293 56 THERE ARE EXPECTED TO BE 268 57 THERE’S MORE TO BE 260 58 THERE IS PLENTY TO BE 259 59 THERE ARE BELIEVED TO BE 255 60 THERE’S PLENTY TO BE 243 61 THERE ARE AUTHORIZED TO BE 219 62 THERE ARE THINGS TO BE 216 63 THERE IS YET TO BE 200 64 THERE ARE DEALS TO BE 199 65 THERE WAS MONEY TO BE 196 66 THERE WERE SUPPOSED TO BE 195 67 THERE IS ANYTHING TO BE 162 68 THERE DID SEEM TO BE 161 69 THERE WAS BOUND TO BE 142 70 THERE NEVER SEEMS TO BE 141 71 THERE STILL SEEMS TO BE 141 72 THERE ARE WAYS TO BE 131 73 THERE’S FUN TO BE 126 74 THERE ‘S REASON TO BE 125 75 THERE IS THOUGHT TO BE 124 76 THERE WAS MUCH TO BE 117 77 THERE WERE BOUND TO BE 117 78 THERE ALSO NEEDS TO BE 113 79 THERE ARE , TO BE 111 80 THERE WAS LIKELY TO BE 111 81 THERE ARE BARGAINS TO BE 110 82 THERE A WAY TO BE 110 83 THERE’S UNLIKELY TO BE 107 84 THERE ARE UNLIKELY TO BE 105 85 THERE WAS LITTLE TO BE 102 86 THERE WAS WORK TO BE 99 87 THERE IS CERTAIN TO BE 98 88 THERE WAS SOMETHING TO BE 95 89 THERE WAS NONE TO BE 93 90 THERE ALSO SEEMS TO BE 92 91 THERE STILL NEEDS TO BE 91 92 THERE ARE NONE TO BE 90 93 THERE TURNS OUT TO BE 89 94 THERE WERE NONE TO BE 86 95 THERE ALWAYS SEEMED TO BE 84 96 THERE WAS MORE TO BE 84 97 THERE’S LITTLE TO BE 82 98 THERE IS NONE TO BE 81 99 THERE’D HAVE TO BE 80
100 THERE’S ANYTHING TO BE 79