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There is/are
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MrPedantic  #179839  Sat, 07 Jan 06 01:20 AM

 Rvw wrote:
Grammar demands a plural verb with a plural subject. Are should be used in all of Selvakumar's and Katarina's examples.

On the other hand, if I'm looking at Selvakumar and Katarina, and I don't know who they are, I'd be likely to say "Who's that?" (Not "Who are those?" or "Who are they?")

MrP
  
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MrPedantic  #179846  Sat, 07 Jan 06 01:53 AM

On further reflection, I would parse the sentences as follows (strike-through = ellipsis):

1. There are three ghosts and there is   a mouse.
2. There are many spiders in that house.
3. There's an old witch and there's   a young girl. 
4. There's Gertrud and there's   Katharina.

MrP
  
rvw  #179869  Sat, 07 Jan 06 02:44 AM
 Ruslana wrote:

What do native speakers or English teachers think of it?

What about me, I agree with MrPedantic and Pieanne.


(I'm a native speaker.)  I think you will usually find are with compound subjects in formal English. You will find a mix of usages in informal English.  The following is from the conclusion of the discussion of there is/there are in Webster's Dictionary of English Usage:

Jespersen notes that the invariable singular occurs mostly in the colloquial style -- speech and speechlike prose -- and is generally avoided in the literary style.  That observation accords with our evidence. 

  
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paco2004  #179933  Sat, 07 Jan 06 10:39 AM
Hello guys

I tentatively googled the four expressions below:

        <1-a> There is two X and a Y: [all :19,500] [Edu : 77] [Ac.UK : 22]
        <1-b> There are two X and a Y: [all :431,000] [Edu : 25,100] [Ac.UK : 634]

        <2-a> There is a X and two Y": [all :170,000] [Edu : 772] [Ac.UK : 274]
        <2-b> There are a X and two Y": [all :33,000] [Edu : 155] [Ac.UK : 55]

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MrPedantic  #179960  Sat, 07 Jan 06 01:21 PM

It might be that "There are one X and two Ys" would sound natural in some instances – perhaps if the X and Ys constituted a group. Thus:

1. There are {one X and two Ys}.

I'm bound to say I can't think of an example, though.

Also, perhaps the "are" form is more common when "There" is more obviously an adverb of place.

But again, I can't think of an instance.

MrP
  
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Joey_five  #179977  Sat, 07 Jan 06 02:12 PM

I am not a native speaker (and neither was my teacher). But I was taught that:

There IS (one item) and (two items) ...

There ARE (two items) and (one item) ...

there is even a term for this, it is called "law of proximity" or something like that.

The law of proximity also applys for some other structures, such as: either ... or ...

Hope my memories are correct.
  
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Ruslana  #180253  Sun, 08 Jan 06 12:20 PM
Rvw, are you a native BrE speaker?
  
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rvw  #180431  Sun, 08 Jan 06 10:42 PM
U. S. English.
  
rvw
MrPedantic  #180449  Mon, 09 Jan 06 12:03 AM

Running through the first few pages of a Google search on "There are a * and two", I find mostly examples of:

1. There are a few...

But perhaps there's a difference between dialects here. Webster and RVW have US ears; I have BrE ones.

Or perhaps there's no "right" answer; perhaps a case might be made for either.

MrP

PS: On the question of style, I've yet to track down a literary appearance of either form.
  
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