Pluarality of developmentalism?

It seems ugly to me. I would say "There are old and new forms of developmentalism."

Your first sentence should be: "There is old developmentalism and new developmentalism."

Mr Wordy
Your first sentence should be: "There is old developmentalism and new developmentalism."

Thanks for your reply

I learned when abstract nouns are combined to a subject, they take a plural verb.

e.g.: Logical thinking and imagining are activities.

From your example, may I say as follows?

zazzex
I learned when abstract nouns are combined to a subject, they take a plural verb.

e.g.: Logical thinking and imagining are activities.

Correct. Not just abstract nouns, any nouns.

"There is old developmentalism and new developmentalism" is a special case. It means "There is old developmentalism a

Then, shouldn't we say

"There are old developmentalism and new developmentalism"

, as we say "There are thinking and visioning in activities."

Or, are you suggesting only for "There is" clause we should use a singular verb?

zazzex
Or, are you suggesting only for "There is" clause we should use a singular verb?

Yes.

Your basic understanding that lists of nouns separated by "and" take a plural verb is correct.

However, the expression "there is/are" (in the sense of "this thing exists" or "these things exist") does not always follow the usual rules.

Hi Zazzex

The following should enable to understand Mr Wordy's reply.

Please note that in British English, it should be:

There is a cat and a dog.

Below is the information extracted from two books on English usage. The first book is on British English usage, the second on American English usage.

The Right Word at the Right Time states as fol