EnglishClub ESL Forums

Hi there,
I'm teaching now the structure there is/are ....verb-ing to my students, but I'm not sure: why do we have this structure at all?
I need some help in understanding what is the difference between the following two sentences:
There is a man climbing over the gate.
A man is climbing over the gate. (We could simply say this, couldn't we?)
Zsuzsanna

Yes, indeed you could!

It really serves to focus on the existence of the man (in addition to the action that he is performing).

Other than that, its use or non-use is entirely a matter of choice.