inside the house is or are

Question

Dear EFers:Does the rule regarding the "there is" construction apply also to the following?--Inside the house is a cat, a woman, and a dog.Shouldn't it rather be?--Inside the house are a cat, a woman, and a dog.Thanks!CB

Pinenut · Accepted Answer

AnonymousDear EFers:

Does the rule regarding the "there is" construction apply also to the following?--

Inside the house is a cat, a woman, and a dog.

Shouldn't it rather be?--

Inside the house are a cat, a woman, and a dog.

Thanks!

CB

CB,

Technically, "there is" has nothig to do with your example.

A cat, a woman, and a dog are inside the house, where the adverbial phrase and thereby the verb are inverted.

Best regards,

pine

Anonymous · Answer

pine,

thanks for your comment. i invoked the "there is" construction because it strikes me as being similar to the sentence i presented. current usage seems to favor the use of "there is" when the plural noun phrase that follows it is a list introduced by a singular object or person. for instance, many sources say that the following is accepted as current usage: Just past the corner, there's a bakery, a couple of convenience stores, and a church.

in my fiction readings this past the last month i came across the "inside the house..." kind of sentence a couple of times, and in both it was followed by "is" not "are." this got me wondering, and thus the inquiry.

best,

cb.

inside the house is or are

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