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Anonymous Posted 19 years ago
Grammar
IS /ARE
See this setence:
"There are a bat and a ball in the box."
Shouldn't it be IS a bat and a ball?
If yes, why?
Thanks.
"There are a bat and a ball in the box."
Shouldn't it be IS a bat and a ball?
If yes, why?
Thanks.
Top answer
" ( Shouldn't it be IS a bat and a ball? If yes, why? Thanks.
- " ( Shouldn't it be IS a bat and a ball?
- If yes, why?
- Thanks.
- Either 'is' or 'are' is correct in AmE; 'is' is correct in BrE.
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22 Answers
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AnonymousSee this setence:Either 'is' or 'are' is correct in AmE; 'is' is correct in BrE.
"There are a bat and a ball in the box." (
Shouldn't it be IS a bat and a ball?
If yes, why?
Thanks.
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I don't understand why 'is' could be used in this case. Obviously there are 2 objects (a bat and a ball), so we should use 'are' which is plural, isn't it?
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Yoong LiatEither 'is' or 'are' is correct in AmE; 'is' is correct in BrEHi,
I'm not sure Americans would use "are" very often... I think they just use "is".
Spectacled-Girl, yes, there are two things, but if the first one is not plural, it seems native speakers use the singular for the verb too.
There is a cat and a dog.
There is
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Hi Kooyen
I'm not sure Americans would use "are" very often... I think they just use "is".
This was discussed extensively on another thread.
I'm not sure Americans would use "are" very often... I think they just use "is".
This was discussed extensively on another thread.
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Hi YL
I agree that 'is' would be the most likely choice in AmE.
Oddly enough, I once suggested to a British English teacher that 'is' would be the correct choice in a sentence very similar to the one here and was informed that only 'are' would be correct.
@SG
In this particular sentence, you might also consider that "a bat and a ball" might be seen as a sort of
I agree that 'is' would be the most likely choice in AmE.
Oddly enough, I once suggested to a British English teacher that 'is' would be the correct choice in a sentence very similar to the one here and was informed that only 'are' would be correct.
@SG
In this particular sentence, you might also consider that "a bat and a ball" might be seen as a sort of
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YankeeHi YLThe problem lies in the word 'There'.
I agree that 'is' would be the most likely choice in AmE.
Oddly enough, I once suggested to a British English teacher that 'is' would be the correct choice in a sentence very similar to the one here and was informed that only 'are' would be correct.
1. There is a dog an
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Hi Yoong,
I searched this forum and I found a post of yours where you quoted something about that. Yes, it seems someone considers "are" acceptable in American English. However, since it seems it is not that common, I'll just use "is", which is a very common choice.
But... I think there is a new problem! I've never asked about this: what if that "there" is not an "existential there",
I searched this forum and I found a post of yours where you quoted something about that. Yes, it seems someone considers "are" acceptable in American English. However, since it seems it is not that common, I'll just use "is", which is a very common choice.
But... I think there is a new problem! I've never asked about this: what if that "there" is not an "existential there",
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what do native speakers actually do?You can always put locative there at the end.
My cat and dog are there.
But the following is not a problem:
There's my cat and dog.
Recall that existential there goes with indefinites, so There's my ..., being definite, automatically makes it locative there
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Yankee@SG
In this particular sentence, you might also consider that "a bat and a ball" might be seen as a sort of unit or set -- i.e. the basic set of "ingredients" needed to play some form of baseball.
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