ESL General English Grammar Questions

Re: has to be, have to be

CalifJim — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 03:13:31 GMT

The language seems to be undergoing a change in the agreement rules for there constructions.

In casual speech the singular verb seems to satisfy many people, no matter what follows! (Compare hay in Spanish -- there is/are -- always singular.)

I'm guilty of the same, especially with contracted there's.

There's tons of them just like it in the suburbs.

There's cookies and cake in the kitchen if anyone wants a snack.

There's plenty of ways to do it if you just try.

Go figure.

Re: has to be, have to be

Mr Wordy — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 02:35:08 GMT

CalifJim
Agreement in a there construction is between the verb and the following noun.
There have to be changes made.

CJ

I entirely agree -- but 56 Google Book Search hits for "there has to be changes" indicate that some people don't!

Peculiar.

Re: has to be, have to be

CalifJim — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 01:40:09 GMT

Agreement in a there construction is between the verb and the following noun.

There have to be changes made.

Re: has to be, have to be

Philip — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 01:24:25 GMT

I agree with Mr. Wordy, but I would be hard pressed to defend my position.

Re: has to be, have to be

Mr Wordy — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 01:15:06 GMT

I would say "There have to be changes made". .

has to be, have to be

Anonymous — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 22:39:35 GMT

hi. I was on google and getting some conflicting results with the following. I think the first option is correct. Am I right?

There have to be changes made

There has to be changes made

Thanks