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§6.10. Existence and there
"There" is a curious word in English, which mostly refers to some place which is being talked about - but which can sometimes mean the whole world. In Ian Fleming's novel "From Russia With Love", a chapter narrating a committee meeting of SMERSH officers in Istanbul ends with one of the Russians saying:
What does this "there" mean? It really just means that Bond exists. In fact, he's watching the meeting through a concealed periscope, but the SMERSH general doesn't know that. All he is saying is that Bond is out there somewhere, and is not imaginary, or dead.
Inform also allows "there is" (or "there are") to talk about what exists, or does not. This is especially useful if, for some reason, we don't want to give a name to something. For example:
Another reason might be that we want to create something but not put it anywhere. If Inform reads the sentence:
then it creates a man, gives him the name Bond, but places him initially off-stage - not in any room, that is, but available to be brought into play later on, like an actor who is not needed until Act II.
"There" also provides a useful way to test what exists:
Or even:
which will be true if the model world contains even a single woman, on-stage or off. The alternative "there are" can also be used:
but note that this does not necessarily imply more than one woman is present, despite the plural. If we want that, we have to be more explicit:
or, of course, we needn't use "there is" at all:
And we can also test non-existence:
if there is nobody in the Summerhouse, ...
if there is nothing on the mantelpiece, ...