Across the road there is (are?) a store and a fire hall

Question

I have a simple question: which of the following is correct (or are they both correct?)

Across the street there is a store and a fire hall

or

Across the street there are a store and a fire hall

thanks, im all about #1 (native speaker), but I recently got corrected in my typing to #2, and am very confused.

Lookfar · Accepted Answer

0 If you seperate the objects as: 00or 02br
00 there are 02br
00listed objects, in other words, and there is a list of objects. 02br
00In other other words, yes, you can say there is a store and a fire hall, 02br
00but to continue more than twice using 'and' would be redundant 0-

MrPedantic · Answer

0 Welcome to English Forums, lookfar. 02br
02br
00You’re living up to your name – thank you! 02br
02br
00MrP 0-

Lookfar · Answer

0 thank you kindly- now, what about my bet? re: commas 0-

MrPedantic · Answer

0 Hello lookfar 02br
02br
00I'll have to think about that one. But no doubt there'll be a whole cluster of conflicting answers hanging off your thread by tomorrow. 02br
02br
00See you 02br
00MrP 0-

Jandi · Answer

0 Hello, teachers! 02br
02br
00If we omit 'there', which verb is correct? 02br
02br
00- Across the street is/are a store and a fire hall. 02br
02br
00Thank you very much. 0-

Lookfar · Answer

0 ARE definitely 0-

Jandi · Answer

0 Thank you very much, Lookfar! 0-

Paco2004 · Answer

0 Existential there vs Presentational there 02br
02br
00Simple existential there 02br
00(01b00o02b00) "It was a real nice party. There were MrP, CJ, and MrM." 02br
00(01b00?02b00) "It was a real nice party. There was MrP, CJ, and MrM." 02br
02br
00Presentational there [Listing there] 02br
00(01b00o02b00) "Who was at the party?" "There were MrP, CJ, and MrM." 02br
00(01b00o02b00) "Who was at the party?" "There was MrP, CJ, and MrM. 02br
02br
00paco 0-

Lookfar · Answer

0 Ther is a list of things; there are things on the list 0-

Kenny dorham · Answer

0 The question here concerns subject-verb agreement. Almost always the the verb agrees with the subject in number. We say "Homer rides into town" and "John and Homer ride into town." In the first sentence the 3rd person singular verb "rides" agrees with the singular subject "Homer," and in the second sentence the plural verb "ride" agrees with the plural subject "John and Homer." So far, so good. 02br
00 Often, however, the expletive "there" is used to fill up the space in which we usually expect to find the subject. Lookfar's sentence "Ther [sic] is a list of things; there are things on the list" is an example. The first "there" is followed by the singular verb "is" and then the singular subject "list" and the second "there" is followed by the plural verb "are" and the plural subject "things." Subject-verb agreement all around. 02br
00 But when using a expletive, complications arise if the subject that follows the verb is compound and the first subject is singular. This is the case in the original sentence "Across the road there is (are?) a store and a fire hall." There is no doubt that the subject is plural ("a store and a fire hall") and that "Across the road there are a store and a fire house" would, certainly by a vast majority of English teachers, be considered correct. The problem is that "there are a store" sounds a little strange. No worries, though, because before we have time to ponder this possible problem we get our second subject ("a fire hall"). 02br
00 Consider this sentence, though: "There are John, whom I haven't seen in years, and Fred, my once-best friend, sitting on a park bench." Or, "There are a dog with a clipped tail and a scruffy cat on my lawn." There is no question that the subject in both sentences is plural, but "There are John" and There are a dog" offend the ear. In this case, for what it is worth, I believe it is acceptable to make the verb agree with the following subject. 02br
02br
00Kenny Dorham 0-

Across the road there is (are?) a store and a fire hall

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