What is another way of saying there are as in There are about 350 different pasta shapes?

Answer 1

The verbs is, are, was, were, and all forms of "be" are called passive verbs. They often crop into writing when there is no noun to do an action, or when it doesn't matter who did the action. Passive verbs often have "by" in the sentence.

In your example, "There are about 350 different pasta shapes" you would need to either insert a noun with an active verb, or flip the sentence and add some other fact. Or, you can choose to use the passive "are" but you should try to write active sentences whenever possible.

Here are a few examples of how to change your example sentence:

Expert cooks have designed three hundred different pasta shapes. (Note: All we've done here is insert a noun+active verb Cooks designed.)

Three hundred different pasta shapes adorn the pages of the new cook book. (pasta becomes the noun and adorn the verb.)

Contestants at the cooking school made three hundred different pasta shapes. (Contestants=noun, made, active verb)

The baker cut three hundred different pasta shapes.

Stating a "fact" often makes it hard to devise a good sentence structure. We have limited ways to report "facts".

There are three apples left.

There are four students.

There are 26 letters in the alphabet.

And often, if we just flip the sentence, we end up with another passive verb.

The alphabet has 26 letters.

Sometimes you use can simple verbs to make simple active sentences (example: made), but it depends on the point you want to make. If you need to simply report "a fact", it's acceptable to use "there are" as long as the rest of your writing uses active verbs.

Example: There are about 350 different pasta shapes. At a recent bake-off, contestants proved the number through baking skill and talent. Judges reviewed the finished shapes for thickness, texture, and edge-work. Over 98% of the contestants cut perfect shapes without flaked edges. However, the three judges explained that inconsistencies exit in all hand-made pasta. The key to a good dish, the judges said, rests in the thickness and texture of each cut piece, regardless of the shapes.

In the above example, only one instance of an "are" verb occurs; the rest of the verbs are all active verbs.