Hebrew has never used the verb (lehiyot) "to be" in the present tense for "is" or "are", neither in Biblical times nor today.The verb has full Present forms, however. In the present this verb normally means "to exist"

The tenses and uses of this verb:
 
 IS and ARE - There IS - There ARE

'lehiyot' covers past present and future.
 
 

present tense ways to say "is" or "are":

To say this you just put the subject first and everything else comes after with a verb. If you want to say the "child is small" you would only say "the child small"
Example:
 
 "Hayeled katan" = "the child is small"

However when the subject is a little longer, or more elaborate Hebrew speakers often use the pronoun that would correspond to that subject in gender and number. This is a sort of substitute for "is" or "are".
Example
 
 

"Haartzot hatsafonot hem kalot") = "The northern countries are cold"

*This verb, (lehiyot), is a PA'AL variant*

present tense (meaning "to exist")
 
 

hove
hova
hovim
hovot

Past tense
 

hayiti

hayata

hayit

haya

haita

hainu

*heitem/n

hayu* this is often pronounced haitem/n colloquially.
Example:
(hayu b'yerushalayim) "they were in Jerusalem"

Future Tense
 
 eye

tiye

tiyi

yiye

tiye

niye

tiyu

yiyu

Example:

(hi tiye sham) "she will be there"
 
 

There is/are

Present use:
-To say "there is/are" you use
(yesh) which means both. This particle does not conjugate and does not agree with nouns.

Example:
(yesh anashim harbe bamerkaz ha'ir) "There are many people downtown (in the center of the city)"

To say "there isn't/aren't" just use the word (ein) instead of (yesh).

Past use:

-To say "there was/were" just use the appropriate form of the verb (lehiyot) in the Past tense.
Example
(hayu anashim harbe bamerkaz ha'ir) "There were many people downtown (in the center of the city)".

To say "there wasn't/weren't" use the same word with (lo) "no" before it.