"There is/There are"

 In English, There is and There are are used to indicate the existence of nouns, such as objects, people, animals, places, etc. This structure is widely used in the description of places such as houses, apartments, parks, etc.

What do these expressions mean?

The meaning is quite simple. Both expressions mean "there is" or ¨Hay¨ in Spanish. Examples:

There is a sofa in the kitchen. / Hay un sofá en la cocina.

There are three sofas in the kitchen. / Hay tres sofás en la cocina.

In both sentences the meaning in Spanish is the same: hay.

What is the difference between There is and There are?

Basically the difference is that There is used with a SINGULAR complement (which means that we are talking about one thing, person, place, etc.)

There are is used with a PLURAL complement (which means that we are talking about two or more things, people or places):

Examples

There is a curtain in my bedroom. / Hay una cortinas en mi dormitorio.

There are 2 curtains in my bedroom. / Hay dos cortinas en mi dormitorio.