THERE IS or THERE ARE?

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ESL forum > Grammar and Linguistics > THERE IS or THERE ARE?

THERE IS or THERE ARE?

donapeter

It is Subject-verb agreement. So, if the subject is singular, the verb must be singular,too.
You have to identify the Subject, than....the rest is a piece of cake!!!
D

13 Jun 2009

I VOTE FOR : THERE IS A LARGE NUMBER OF PEOPLE ... NO DOUBT!!
Greetings from Argentina!
Stella

13 Jun 2009

We say there �s a large number of people - so surely there is would be correct.

although

There are a lot of people - sounds better than �there is a lot of people �

I don �t know - im just a poor native speaker who gets bambozled by why it matters?

13 Jun 2009

Ivona

to vickiii

there IS a large NUMBER (sg.) of people
there ARE a lot of PEOPLE (pl.)

EDIT: again to vickiii, people can be sg when referring to a nation ..

13 Jun 2009

hmm - but surely people is always plural??

13 Jun 2009

Lana.

We all know how flexible and ever-changing and adapting English is...

Words and structures that were unacceptable yesterday are perfectly fine today, and even get into dictionaries and grammar books. English is living and changing.

The first thing that springs to my mind id "There IS a large number of people" because "number" is singular.

However, maybe things depend on what we want to stress?

Imagine stressing "number":

"There IS a large number of people..."

And then imagine stressing "people":

"There ARE a large number of people who just can �t get away from ESL Printables and get some housework done".

Is it possible that both are correct?..

Because neither seems completely wrong.

Or maybe "There is a large number" is more traditional, and "There are a large number" is more everyday language?

Or maybe if we do say "There are a large number..." the phrase must always be followed by the object ("people"), however the phrase "There is a large number." is fine on its own.

Just thoughts...

13 Jun 2009

rach81

Hi D,

I �m definitely sure that The sentence "There are a number of people" is correct

Yes, it is true that in subject-verb-agreement you have to identify the subject and the verb agrees with it. but there is always an exemption in every rule. like for example in the rule

"Fractions used as subjects in a suntence, the verb agrees with the "of phrase" in the sentence.

Ex. Three fourths of the cake was eaten. (cake is singular so the verb should be singular but the subject is three fourths not cake.)

Ex. Three fourths of the cakes were eaten. (this refers to different kinds of cakes. The subject here is three fourths and not cakes. )

I hope you get what I mean.

hugs

rach c",)

13 Jun 2009

http://www.usingenglish.com/forum/ask-teacher/98141-there-vs-there.html

They are both right I think... according to whether you are using a grammatical or notional concord

Wink

Wink

I have to say though as a kiwi I think just like Vickiii on this one...

ALSO when I type BOTH sentences into word and use English UK as my checker the IS version comes up with a grammatical green error line and the ARE version does not.

13 Jun 2009

Jayho

The question is: There is/are a large number of people there

Well, if we remove large we get: there is/are a number of people there

I would say:

incorrect: there is a number of people there

correct: there are a number of people there

Grammar Guru Swan confirms this but points out that there is is used in informal language for plural subjects.

I �m a native speaker and I �ll certainly be listening to hear what I say next time I say it spontaneously.

13 Jun 2009

rach81

I �m not a native speaker of the langauge, but I definitely agree with you Jayho. That is what I have learned in college and what my references say.

13 Jun 2009

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