Language Arts This article defines "there's" and "where's," gives examples of when to use "there's" and "where's," and offers tips to remember when to use "there's" versus "where's" when writing or speaking.

In one sense the distinction between there's and where's is very specific can be simply put: in conversation between two people in the same location, if one person asks a question about location of something in their proximity, the question is likely to begin with where's and the answer - accompanied by a gesture such as pointing - is likely to begin with there's. But for more about how these two words work, read on.

Where's

Where's is a contraction of where and is. Although where can be an adverb, conjunction, or noun, it is only as an adverb and a noun that it can combine with the verb is to begin a question.

            Adverbial Where's

The adverbial senses that can be expressed by the combination of where with is (as opposed to some other verb) are:

“at or in what place” - Where's the baby?

“to what place” - Where's Alice heading in such a rush?

Notice that in these two cases, the answer will frequently use one of the prepositions from the definition in the answer, regardless of whether the answer began with there's:

The baby's in the kitchen.

Alice is going to Saratoga to meet her fiancé.

Besides those two literal questions, where's can be used metaphorically in the sense:

“to what situation or in what direction” - Where's this relationship going?

Note that this final use is figurative and is not asking for location, so wouldn't be answered by a sentence beginning there's.

            Noun Where's

The noun sense that can be expressed by the combination of where and is (as opposed to some other form of be) is:

“what place, source, or cause” Where's Iva from originally?

Notice that the preposition from distinguishes this use from the adverbial use. Also notice that where are would have to be used for many possible subjects of this sentence.

There's

There's is a contraction of there and is. There can be an adverb, a pronoun, an adjective, a noun, or an interjection. Only as a noun and a pronoun could it be followed by the verb is and become part of the contraction there's.

            Noun There's

It is as a noun indicating a specific point or place that there's can be used to begin a question asking for location - a question that will often begin with where's. Here are some examples:

Where's the bakery?

There's the bakery: across the street and half a block down, beside the Peace and Justice Boutique.

Notice that, as explained above, that an answer beginning with there's cannot stand alone, but must be accompanied with a gesture of some kind that points out the location described in words.

Where's the mayor?

There's the mayor: among the crowd of people on the steps of City Hall, answering questions about the change in the parking meter policy.

Notice in this example that although the interest in the second question is on a person, it is the question word that begins the sentence that determines the beginning noun. The question could also be answered like this, exchanging the positions of there and the mayor:

Where's the mayor?

The mayor is over there among the crowd of people on the steps of City Hall, answering questions about the change in the parking meter policy.

In this version, since it's already clearly established that the mayor is the topic of interest, it would be possible to substitute he's as the subject of the response:

Where's the mayor?

He's over there among the crowd of people on the steps of City Hall, answering questions about the change in the parking meter policy.

            Pronoun There's

There's with the pronoun there rather than the noun has an entirely different function. It is called “existential there” and is used to introduce a sentence or clause in order to rearrange the sentence material in order to shift emphasis and present the subject as new information, rather than use more usual sentence formulas that name the subject and then comment on it. The sentence information is the same; just the position has changed:

A moose is standing in the post office parking lot!

There is a moose standing in the post office parking lot!

or

There's a moose standing in the post office parking lot!

Notice that the words are exactly the same (although reordered) except that there has been introduced.

There's in this construction is obviously limited to present tense and - in formal situations - to singular subjects. In informal language, there's is sometimes used for plural subjects.

Singular subject: There's a bug in my soup!

Plural subject: There's bugs in my soup!