Re: There is /are

Mr Wordy — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 11:07:49 GMT

Mr Wordy
I would not use it in formal writing though

Sorry, I wasn't thinking very carefully when I wrote this. Having just mentioned a "plural case" I had in mind that we were talking about plural nouns, which is a little different from your example. Let me try again.

If "there is/are" refers to a plural noun then "is" is informal/conversational. For example, "There's four rooms downstairs" is informal, while in formal usage it should always be "There are four rooms downstairs".

If "there is/are" is followed by a list of different nouns, the first of which is singular, as in your example, then "there is" is acceptable and natural to me in all types of usage. For example, I would write "There is a bathroom, a dining room and two bedrooms". (Perhaps some people who are very strict about these things might insist on "are", but I wouldn't.)

If "there is/are" is followed by a list of different nouns, the first of which is plural, then we're back to the original case. "There's two bedrooms, a dining room and a bathroom" is informal/conversational, and formally it should be "There are two bedrooms, a dining room and a bathroom".

Re: There is /are

Mr Wordy — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 00:46:20 GMT

There is /are a bathroom, a dining room and two bedrooms.

Strictly speaking, it should be "there are" because several things are listed.

However, in everyday conversation and informal writing, native speakers frequently use "there is" (very often contracted to "there's") for the plural case as well as the singular. I would not use it in formal writing though.

There is /are

Vincent Teo — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 00:02:39 GMT

Can I say,

There is /are a bathroom, a dining room two bedrooms.

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