Anonymous  +  951068 Sat, 24 Oct 09 01:37 AM What is proper? There apparently were a problem to be solved and a question to be answered. or There apparently was a problem to be solved and a question to be answered. kindly elaborate your answer. Anonymous

	Grammar Geek  +  951091 Sat, 24 Oct 09 02:08 AM Although your instinct might tell you that the problem and the question are two things and therefore should take "were," "There is" or "There was" is a very common way start when the first element is singular. There was a dog and two cats. There were two cats and a dog. Grammar Geek Joined on Tue, Jan 10 2006 Veteran Member 19,660 Barbara, who answers in American English. My housekeeping skills attest to the truth of the second law of thermodynamics: Left to themselves, things get more and more random!

	Grammar Geek  +  951795 Sat, 24 Oct 09 08:54 PM See these: http://www.1-language.com/englishcourse/unit17_grammar.htm "Sometimes however we can use "there is" with compound subjects, for example: There's a bank and a post office near my house" http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=447607 "Of course, when there are two or more separate nouns following, it is quite correct to say "There is (There's) smoked salmon, caviar and stuffed olives for the buffet", despite the plurality of the idea. " And this, on how common it is to form the contraction: http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/002447.html Grammar Geek Nouns, Spelling, Contractions, Compound Subjects