"there is" vs "there are"?

Question

Hi,I always though that if "there (or here) + be" is followed by a plural noun, it is "there are", while "there is" is used if it is followed by a singular noun.But recently, I often heard "there is" (or "here is") being used together with singular nouns.Two examples:Here's the keys.There's no mosquitos in the desert.Is that correct? If yes, what are the rules when to use "(t)here are" and when to use "(t)here is"?Peter

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Peter Frank had it:
[nq:1]Hi, I always though that if "there (or here) + be" is followed by a plural noun, it is "there ... (or "here is") being used together with singular nouns. Two examples: Here's the keys. There's no mosquitos in the desert.[/nq]
Those are not examples of "here is" or "there is". You've changed the question.
[nq:1]Is that correct? If yes, what are the rules when to use "(t)here are" and when to use "(t)here is"?[/nq]
"correct", perhaps not, although there is no authority for English. Idiomatic, yes, to use "here's" or "there's" with a plural object. It is not idiomatic to use "here is" or "there is" with a plural object.

David
==

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Hi, I always though that if "there (or here) + be" is followed by a plural noun, it is "there are", while "there is" is used if it is followed by a singular noun.[/nq]
Correct.
[nq:1]But recently, I often heard "there is" (or "here is") being used together with singular nouns.[/nq]
You have heard "there's" and "here's" being you with singular nouns.
[nq:1]Two examples: Here's the keys.See (1). There's no mosquitos in the desert. Is that correct? If yes, what are the rules when to use "(t)here are" and when to use "(t)here is"?[/nq]
The first is for a plural noun the second for a singular noun.

The contracted forms of these are "there're" and "there's".

However, many people now use "there's" in casual speech and writing to mean "there are" as well as "there is". I don't know when or why this started, but "there's" can be easier to say than "there're". In some English accents "there're" can be very difficult to pronounce successfully.
What this means is that the expanded form of "there's" may be "there is" or "there are" according to whether the following noun is singular or plural.
(1) "Keys" can be understood as either plural or singular. If "the keys" means a bunch of keys then it can be treated as a single item.

Peter Duncanson, UK
(in alt.english.usage)

Usenet · Answer

^^^
Replace "you" by "used".

Peter Duncanson, UK
(in alt.english.usage)

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]I always though that if "there (or here) + be" is followed by a plural noun, it is "there are", ... Is that correct? If yes, what are the rules when to use "(t)here are" and when to use "(t)here is"?[/nq]
Thanks for your replies. I understand its use in casual speech now. Actually, I have never seen this use of "(t)here's" followed by a singular noun in print. I only heard it in movies. And it obviously matters here whether the contracted form is used or not.

Peter

Usenet · Answer

I think we both made mistakes in those two sentences!

We should have typed "plural nouns".
[nq:2]But recently, I often heard "there is" (or "here is") being used together with plural nouns.[/nq]
[nq:1]You have heard "there's" and "here's" being used with plural nouns.[/nq]
Peter Duncanson, UK
(in alt.english.usage)

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]Correct. You have heard "there's" and "here's" being you with singular nouns.[/nq]
[nq:1]I think we both made mistakes in those two sentences! We should have typed "plural nouns".[/nq]
You are absolutely right. I mixed it up.
Peter

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]You have heard "there's" and "here's" being you with singular nouns.[/nq]
[nq:1] [/nq]^^^
[nq:1]Replace "you" by "used".[/nq]
Your choice of preposition strikes me as odd: my ear tells me that "by" belongs with "replace" only when the verb is passive, an active "replace" demanding "with". Is that just me?

Odysseus

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Hi, I always though that if "there (or here) + be" is followed by a plural noun, it is "there ... that correct? If yes, what are the rules when to use "(t)here are" and when to use "(t)here is"? Peter[/nq]
A change in general use is taking place. I first noticed symptoms of this change sometime in the 1960s. I had been taught at school that collective nouns (e.g.Parliament, team) are to be treated as singular and therefore accompanied by a verb in the singular. Now I noticed that popular usage had begun to accompany collective nouns with a verb in the plural (e.g. 'Parliament are' replaced 'Parliament is'. Today the common usage includes phrases such as 'England are' (e.g. when referring to a cricket or football team). My prescriptive schooling has it that such usage is incorrect. My descriptive replacement tells me that the 'rules' of language are made by those who commonly use that language.

In the mid-1970s I noticed 'There's demands .. ' in an official publication of one of the Australian teachers' unions.

Francis Cameron
Oxford, UK

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Hi, I always though that if "there (or here) + be" is followed by a plural noun, it is "there ... Is that correct? If yes, what are the rules when to use "(t)here are" and when to use "(t)here is"?[/nq]
Acceptable and in fact normal in conversation and other informal contexts. Formally, it's better to use the plural - "There /Here are ..."

Alan Jones

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1][/nq]
[nq:2] [/nq]^^^
[nq:2]Replace "you" by "used".[/nq]
[nq:1]Your choice of preposition strikes me as odd: my ear tells me that "by" belongs with "replace" only when the verb is passive, an active "replace" demanding "with". Is that just me?[/nq]
I do believe those crafty Brits occasionally use "by" where we here in USia prefer "with." Whether Peter is one such Brit I do not know.

Aaron
http://www.fisheyegallery.com
http://www.singleservingphoto.com

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