5 exercises — practise when 'there is/are' strengthens or weakens technical prose, and how to rewrite vague 'there' constructions for clarity.
0 / 5 completed
1 / 5
A developer is writing a bug report. Which version is most effective?
Option B is the strongest: the real subject ("A bug") is placed at the front of the sentence, the verb is active ("causes"), and the cause-effect relationship is immediate. "There is" constructions (Option A) delay the real subject and use a weak existential verb — acceptable but less direct. Option C ("there exists") is a stilted alternative to "there is" — rarely used in modern technical writing. Option D chains multiple auxiliary verbs ("has been", "is causing") unnecessarily. Rule for bug reports: lead with the subject and active verb — "A null pointer exception crashes the app on startup" beats "There is a null pointer exception that causes the app to crash."
2 / 5
Which sentence is preferred when introducing multiple options in technical documentation?
"There are two approaches" (Option A) is a natural and widely accepted structure for introducing a list or comparison — the existential "there" signals that something new is about to be enumerated. "The developer can use two approaches" (Option C) is equally valid and slightly more action-oriented. Both are good. Option B ("Two approaches exist") sounds formal and slightly unnatural. The key insight: "there are" constructions are entirely appropriate for introducing enumerations, sets, or alternatives. The context determines the best choice: if the previous sentence established "the developer", Option C flows more naturally; if starting a new topic, Option A is fine.
3 / 5
Which sentence avoids a weak and vague "there" construction in technical writing?
Option C replaces a vague existential construction with a precise, informative sentence. Compare Option D ("There are many factors that affect performance") with "Three factors affect database performance: X, Y, and Z" — the second tells the reader exactly what and how many. Option A ("there are some issues") is classic vague writing: "some issues" is undefined, "need to be addressed" is passive and unassigned. Option B ("there is a possibility that...") can be tightened to "The API rate limit may be exceeded under high load." Rule: when using "there", make sure the following noun is specific and informative, not vague ("some issues", "many factors", "a possibility").
4 / 5
Which is the most appropriate use of "there will be" in a team communication?
Option B is correct: "there will be" is appropriate for announcing a future event, and the sentence provides all key information — what (scheduled deployment), when (Friday 18:00 UTC), impact (10 minutes of downtime), and scope (payments service). The existential construction works well here because it introduces new information that the team does not yet know about. Option A is vague — "some downtime" gives no duration or scope. Option C is conversational but imprecise ("some downtime", "we are doing"). Option D chains vague phrases ("various changes", "occurring as a result of", "taking place") — avoid nominalisation and passive stacking in team announcements.
5 / 5
Which rewrite most effectively eliminates the weak "there" construction?
Option B is the best rewrite: "The team needs to implement rate limiting." — subject ("the team") + active verb ("needs to implement") + object ("rate limiting"). Clear, direct, 8 words instead of 12. Option A ("there exists... the implementation of... by the team") is even weaker — it adds nominalisation ("the implementation of") and a by-phrase passive. Option C is passive ("to be implemented by the team") — passive voice is less direct than active. Option D ("It is necessary that") substitutes one empty subject ("there") for another ("it") and is wordy. The pattern "There is a need for X to do Y" is always replaceable by "X needs to do Y" — a direct improvement.