The English construction there from the point of view of communicative syntax

Differences and typologically common features in some impersonal constructions
In constructions with a subject there is an object being composite. part, of the nominal predicate, grammatically subordinate to the subject. However, the immutable numerical form of the latter (there) does not give sufficient visual confirmation of this position. Like it, there is an exponent of relations abstracted from the subject, but determined, on the one hand, through a connection with a predicate that reveals the numerical form of these relations, and on the other, through a connection with spatial constraints, following the predicate. This is the essential difference that is inherent in constructions with it and with there. The first does not require its spatial detail, and in no way depends on the number of objects, since its function is solely to determine the internal spatial position of the speaker. The second (with there) establishes not the internal position of the speaker himself, but a statement of the external situation in relation to him (in connection with which the circumstances usually following the predicate are added). In this, In the sense of a sentence with a subject there are close to sentences that have this - that as subjects, since the latter also fix the location of an object external to the speaker. However, along with the common features that contribute to the use of the same type of predicate (compound nominal), there is also a significant difference. It lies again in the nature of the definition of spatial Coordinate. If in sentences with a subject on this - that the orientation to the object, having an external character in relation to the speaker, correlates with the speaker and returns to him, then in constructions with there the orientation goes * to the object, and, requiring further decoding of it in a spatial location, does not return to. speaker, and having a centrifugal orientation from the original-indicative subject, on the contrary, moves away from it.
This objective-spatial orientation determines the psychological essence of the dark and belt parts in various types of sentences, their logical disparity and linguistic specificity, which we tried to reveal. It should be borne in mind that the grammatical immutability of there as a subject can contribute to the structural transformation of the construction, according to which the predicate in numerical terms begins to agree with the subject (There is many houses, there). There is every reason to believe that the archaic type of syntactic structure with a spatially indicative subject should be traced in all languages (at least the Indo-European community). However, in each of them, along with typologically common features, a significant individualization of signs will be observed. So, for example, in Russian language, the subject is Although to varying degrees, it still retains its original value of the orientation of thought to the object, which to a certain extent explains the numerical independence from the -quantitative side of the object. In the sentences It was the house, It was the one (who) saw me yesterday, It was difficult to realize, as in the English discussed above, perception does not begin with the object itself, "but with the process of its worldview. By virtue of this, the subject, fixing certain spatial connections, is coordinated" with the predicate in terms of expressing simultaneity, precedence or further sequence with the object of thought. The grammatical connection of the predicate with the subject is marked by the grammatical completeness of the predicate (as a simple, not a constituent element of the sentence). The latter presupposes at the same time its logical coherence as a connector of the subject, acting as a spatial limiter, and the object as the semantic center of thought. Psychologically, the subject in both languages is endowed with integrity, and indivisibility with the predicate, causing the appearance of an object in the belt, which is fixed by the predicate not only in spatial coordination, but also in temporal ones.
The object, being different from the point of view of its informativeness, significantly changes the syntactic pattern of the entire sentence (compare the informative-complete; structure: This is my house and This is the one: which ...). With the strengthening of the modal-informative nature of the object in Russian language, there is a complete withdrawal of the subject, this is the prevalence in it. abstract beginning and the transition of the sentence to a special type of the so-called impersonal. Let's compare: It's hard to realize (where concreteness is felt) and It's hard to think (where the abstract nature of the entire statement is contrary to the indicative meaning of the pronoun)., In other words, there is a fall away, the dark part as insignificant and insignificant, due to which the restructuring of the entire structure in its belt part is carried out with the transformation of the latter into a semantically impersonal sentence. Obviously, the origins of this phenomenon lie in the internal. Speech. It was noted that a person's thought expressed in a sentence is not always exhausted by this sentence. As a rule, it unites around itself a number of sentences, changes in them and is linked into superphrasal unities (SFU).One of the means of such a connection is such a specific and very common linguistic phenomenon as repetition. In the act of communication, the semantic content acts as a certain link; beyond a single sentence. It is this content, presumably, that contributes to the process of active mutual understanding. The significance of this process is evidenced by the fact that the very development of the sentence, which gives rise to various structural types of hypotaxis and parataxis, occurs in the act of communication. The latter is understood as a process of broad exchange of views, achieved by a kind of repetition of the content expressed in the previous judgment.

2.2 Difficulties in translating and using the there is/are construction

The introductory construction there is used in descriptions and narratives, and often its translation causes some difficulties. Sentences corresponding to English sentences with there is or there are, in which the existence of something is asserted or denied (if we needed a special term, we could call them "sentences of being"). existential sentences) have striking features in many languages. Regardless of whether or not a word like there is used to introduce such sentences, the verb precedes the subject, and the latter is hardly interpreted grammatically as a real subject.

In Russian language, the verb is absent in most sentences, but in sentences such as There was a boy, Once upon a time there lived a widow, it always stands at the beginning. The form is - originally the form of the 3rd person singular - is used even before a plural noun, as well as before the pronouns of other persons.
The indefinite meaning of the word there is emphasized by the fact that in the same sentence it is possible to combine this word with the (stressed) adverb of the place there "there" or here "here". It is followed by an indefinite subject: There was a time when... "There was a time when..."; There were many people present "There were many people present", There was no moon "There was no moon", There came a beggar "A beggar came", etc. on account of there being no money in the box "due to the fact that there is no money in the box".
Translation of sentences with the construction there is (there are) should begin with the circumstance of the place, if any. The construction itself there is ( there are) is translated, exists, is: