Usage of “there” in English [closed]

Question

E.g., in the sentence:

There is no alternative.

Wikipedia says:

The word there is used as a pronoun in some sentences, playing the role of a dummy subject, normally of an intransitive verb. The "logical subject" of the verb then appears as a complement after the verb.

Can somebody please elaborate on the above sentence, possibly with examples?

Answer 1

There is X is equivalent of X exists. (with negations too).

• There is no alternative.
• No alternative exists.

There are other usages though. There [verb]s X would mean And so, ... *Look as...* .

• There goes my thousand bucks worth of glassware
• And so my expensive glassware is destroyed.

Standalone "There." comes as a confirmation of completing some implicit action.

• -- Could you delete these files?
• -- There. (or Done. or Deleted.)

It also appears in this context in an idiom "There you are."

I probably missed a few other usages but you should get the general idea, that "there" outside of pointing a location can be a generic filler.