I need your help

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ESL forum > Ask for help > I need your help

I need your help

salwamel

I need your help

hello dear collegues

which is correct in these two senntences:

on the table there is rice, salad, fish and chips and some fruit.

or on the table there are rice, salad, fish and chips and some fruit.

6 Feb 2015

you_per7

I guess the second one is correct.

6 Feb 2015

1lh4n

First one is correct. Because rice is an uncountable noun. So, you should you use is for uncountable nouns. But, even if it were a countable noun, you would use "is" as in the example;

There is a boy and two girls in the garden.

There are two girls and a boy in the garden.

You should focus on the object coming after "There is/are".

6 Feb 2015

redcamarocruiser

1. I would say the first one is correct because we ask What is on the table? [There is] rice, salad, fish and chips, and some fruit. Edit: I noticed that when I tried to describe the objects on my desk to answer the question, "What is on the desk", I began saying "There is" and I named singular objects. But if I deliberately focused on a plural object (such as the speakers) first, then I noticed that I had to Change it to "There are speakers, a pencil, etc.

2. http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/oddness-when-you-start-a-sentence-with-there-is agrees with you_per7 . See below.

3. 1lh4n hit the nail on the head, in my opinion. Good explanation!

Edit:

To 2. "Sentences beginning with "there are" and "there is" are using a different kind of sentence structure called an expletive construction...

It�s a compound subject since it has two nouns connected by the word "and," which makes it plural, but it�s still a subject; and it�s always the subject of a sentence that drives your verb choice, even if the subject isn�t at the beginning of the sentence.

Now that you know the subject is "a couch and a coffee table" and that it�s plural, it�s easy to choose the right verb: "are." Plural subject take plural verbs. (The subjects are underlined in the following examples.)

- See more at: http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/oddness-when-you-start-a-sentence-with-there-is#sthash.KLU6K8q2.dpuf"

6 Feb 2015

ebrahmi