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Discussion Groups / English Usage / April 2007Is or are
Would you say "There is a man and a woman in the house" or "There are a man and a woman in the house"? I would definitely say "is", but "are" seems much more logical. (We say "There are two people in the house" or "A man and a woman are in the house".) Googling yields a large number of both is's and are's. Which is correct? -- Claus Tondering > Would you say "There is a man and a woman in the house" or "There are > a man and a woman in the house"? [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > > Which is correct? Both are used. I would probably say "there is" as often as I'd say "there are", but I would definitely write "there are". Most people who use the singular copula with a plural predicate nominative would say and write "there's a man and a woman in the house". On the SAT, the TOEFL, the TOEIC, and any other standardized formal English test, it would have to be "there are", but in normal usage, "there's" and "there is" are probably as frequent as "there are". It's not a question of "correct/incorrect" unless there's a style manual or an examiner of some kind involved -- it's a question of "acceptable/unacceptable". Most style manuals will insist on "there are", but only some examiners will. Formal written and spoken English requires "there are".  SignatureFranke: EFL teacher & medical editor Native speaker of American English; posting from Taiwan. "It has come to my attention that my opinions are not universally shared." Scott Adams, The Dilbert Blog, 23 Jan 2007; http://dilbertblog.typepad.com/ teranews charges a one-time US$3.95 setup fee -- Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com >> Would you say "There is a man and a woman in the house" or "There >> are a man and a woman in the house"? [quoted text clipped - 23 lines] > > Formal written and spoken English requires "there are".[1] NOTE: [1] This is one of those instances in which both "is" and "are" are acceptable because it depends on how one thinks about the subject. Is "formal written and spoken English" a singular collective entity or two individual singular entities? I see them as a singular collective entity because of the word "formal". To me, "formal English" is equivalent to "formal written and spoken English". I think other native anglophones here will see it the opposite way and say that "Formal written and spoken English require" is correct. SignatureFranke: EFL teacher & medical editor Native speaker of American English; posting from Taiwan. "It has come to my attention that my opinions are not universally shared." Scott Adams, The Dilbert Blog, 23 Jan 2007; http://dilbertblog.typepad.com/ teranews charges a one-time US$3.95 setup fee -- Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com How about the following? (1)A lot of noise bothers me. (2)A lot of people bother me. (3)A colllection of people bothers me. TKS > > Would you say "There is a man and a woman in the house" or "There are > > a man and a woman in the house"? [quoted text clipped - 32 lines] > -- > Posted via a free Usenet account fromhttp://www.teranews.com > How about the following? > (1)A lot of noise bothers me. Yes, okay. It means that "a great deal of noise bothers me". > (2)A lot of people bother me. Yes, okay. It means that "many different people bother me". > (3)A colllection of people bothers me. Yes, okay. It means that "a group of people bother(BrE)/bothers(AmE) me". SignatureFranke: EFL teacher & medical editor Native speaker of American English; posting from Taiwan. "It has come to my attention that my opinions are not universally shared." Scott Adams, The Dilbert Blog, 23 Jan 2007; http://dilbertblog.typepad.com/ teranews charges a one-time US$3.95 setup fee -- Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com > Would you say "There is a man and a woman in the house" or "There are > a man and a woman in the house"? [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > > Which is correct? I would pick "there are" as " a man and a woman" is not necessarily a commonly used _singular collective entity_. On the other hand, "_bread and butter_ is waiting for you in the dinner room" seems correct as _bread and butter_ is commonly used. > -- > Claus Tondering > Would you say "There is a man and a woman in the house" or "There are > a man and a woman in the house"? > > I would definitely say "is", but "are" seems much more logical. 1. English has no special phrases reserved for use as existential statements, like German ES SIND or French IL Y A. 2. Speech is not rigorously governed by logic. Germans say ES SIND LIONEN . . . but French say IL Y A DES LIONS . . . and both are correct. SignatureDon Phillipson Carlsbad Springs (Ottawa, Canada) On Apr 27, 4:42 pm, "Don Phillipson" <d.phillipsonSPAMBL...@ncf.ca> wrote: > 2. Speech is not rigorously governed by logic. > Germans say ES SIND LIONEN . . . Nope. ES GIBT LÖWEN... -- Claus Tondering > Would you say "There is a man and a woman in the house" or "There are > a man and a woman in the house"? [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > -- > Claus Tondering Elliptical and parallel. "There is a man and [there is] a woman in the house." Jim |
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