Anonymous  +  427796 Sat, 06 Oct 07 10:41 AM Hi everyone! I hope you all have a nice weekend. My problem today is with the following: 1) I know that one can say, 'There are people...', 'People are there', but how should 'is' and 'are' be used when singulars are used? For instance: 'There is (are?) the cat and the dog' (The cat and the dog are there)                      'There is (are?) a belief and a hope (2 things?) that Greg will get his act together'                      'There is (are?) a car and a motorbike in the garage' 2) I have a similar problem with here... 'Here are the women...' I feel is correct... 'Here is (are?) Bob and Julie' (Bob and Julie are here) 'Here is (are?) the book and the paper that you requested 'Here are (is?) the books and the paper you requested' Any help would be welcome! Thanks Anonymous

	Yoong Liat  +  427859 Sat, 06 Oct 07 01:58 PM  Anonymous wrote: 'Here are the women...' I feel is correct... (correct) 'Here is (are?) Bob and Julie' (Bob and Julie are here)         ( Here are Bob and Julie.) 'Here is (are?) the book and the paper that you requested.  ( Here are the book and the paper that you requested. ) 'Here are (is?) the books and the paper you requested'       ( Here are the books and the paper you requested. ) Yoong Liat Joined on Mon, Sep 4 2006 Veteran Member 6,757

	Yankee  +  427910 Sat, 06 Oct 07 03:40 PM Hi Anon If you use the forum's SEARCH function, you will discover that the usage of 'there is' and 'there are' has been previously discussed in a number of threads.  For example, here and here . (Click on the words in blue.) Yankee Joined on Sat, Apr 15 2006 Connecticut, USA Veteran Member 6,500 Amy "You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus." - Mark Twain

	Kooyeen  +  427947 Sat, 06 Oct 07 05:08 PM Hi, I think that when you use "there" (= existence) the verb agrees with the first noun that follows: There is a cat and a dog. There are two cats and a dog. But when you start a sentence with something else, like "here", "on the left", etc. (= place), you can use either a singular or a plural verb: Here is Tom and Mary. Here are Tom and Mary. On the left is an amplifier and a guitar. On the left are an amplifier and a guitar. I'm afraid natives tend to use the singular, unless you ask them... Then they'll say they don't know what they use, lol. Or at least I was told so... Kooyeen Joined on Thu, Dec 22 2005 Italy Senior Member 4,970 Parental Advisory / Explicit Posts Verbs, Plurals, Nouns

	Yankee  +  427952 Sat, 06 Oct 07 05:29 PM I agree that native speakers say "there's" far more often than "there're".  In fact, I'd say native speakers tend to avoid saying "there're"  like the plague.  There're is (*) simply too dang hard to say. * By the way, if I had been speaking to you, I would have at least attempted to say "there're's" instead of "there're is".  Yankee

	Kooyeen  +  427954 Sat, 06 Oct 07 05:37 PM Hi Amy, thanks. So you agree on the part about "here", etc. too? Anyway, if "there're" is difficult, shouldn't "Where're" be difficult too? I think "there're" is rarely used by natives, and they say either "there are" or "there's" instead. I once asked if natives said "Where you from?" instead, but I was told they actually say the additional syllable "re", so it's "where're". I think when they talk fast I usually hear "Where uh you from?" So I wonder why "there're" is difficult... go figure, lol Kooyeen

	Yankee  +  427974 Sat, 06 Oct 07 06:31 PM There's, here's and where's all roll off the tongue more easily than there're, here're and where're.  But, yes, when people do manage to say those three words with 're on the end, the 're would basically be a separate syllable that sounds pretty much the same as "er". Yankee