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Anonymous Posted 10 years ago
Grammar
"There is / there are" with participles
Everybody knows the simple "There is / there are" construct:
- There are six radiators in this house.
Can this construct be adjusted. How much?
- There exist six radiators in this house.
- There should be six radiators in this house.
- There should exist six radiators in this house.
With participles?
- There are six radiators installed in this house.
- There should be at least six radiators installed in this house.
- There are six people sitting at the table.
Most of the examples (especially the ones with past participles) sound awkward to me so I tend to correct them while verifying other people's texts (technical, with lot of passive voice), e.g.:
- At least six radiators should be installed in this house.
Please advise,
Adam.
- There are six radiators in this house.
Can this construct be adjusted. How much?
- There exist six radiators in this house.
- There should be six radiators in this house.
- There should exist six radiators in this house.
With participles?
- There are six radiators installed in this house.
- There should be at least six radiators installed in this house.
- There are six people sitting at the table.
Most of the examples (especially the ones with past participles) sound awkward to me so I tend to correct them while verifying other people's texts (technical, with lot of passive voice), e.g.:
- At least six radiators should be installed in this house.
Please advise,
Adam.
Top answer
- There exist six radiators in this house. " is formally correct but rather odd when applied to such an everyday subject. - There should be six radiators in this house.
- - There exist six radiators in this house.
- " is formally correct but rather odd when applied to such an everyday subject.
- - There should be six radiators in this house.
- OK; expresses the speaker's wish, belief, expectation.
- - There should exist six radiators in this house.
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4 Answers
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- There exist six radiators in this house.
"There exist ..." is formally correct but rather odd when applied to such an everyday subject.
- There should be six radiators in this house.
OK; expresses the speaker's wish, belief, expectation.
- There should exist six radiators in this house.
Pretty awkward.
- There are six radiators insta
"There exist ..." is formally correct but rather odd when applied to such an everyday subject.
- There should be six radiators in this house.
OK; expresses the speaker's wish, belief, expectation.
- There should exist six radiators in this house.
Pretty awkward.
- There are six radiators insta
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AnonymousThere exist(s)The only place I see this phrase is in mathematics.
For any two real numbers a and b where a < b, there exists another real number x such that a < x < b.
It's extremely rare in other contexts. The same is true of "There should exist".
See GPY's examples with participles.
CJ
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Thanks for quick answer.
What about this one?
- There are installed six radiators in this house.
For me this is much more awkward than previous ones. Please tell me I'm right.
What about this one?
- There are installed six radiators in this house.
For me this is much more awkward than previous ones. Please tell me I'm right.
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Incorrect word order.
- There are six radiators installed in this house.
- There are six radiators installed in this house.
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