There is/are

Question

Hey, are these sentences correct? thxCountable nouns:	a) 		There is a/one book on the table.			Is there a/one book on the table?			There isn't a/one book on the table.	b)  There are five cats in the house.	  or                 There are some cats in the house.			Are there five cats in the house	?  or                            Are there any cats in the house.			There aren't five cats in the house.	or	                            There aren't any cats in the house.                                                                There are no cats in the house.Uncountable nouns:			There is some milk in the fridge.			Is there any milk in the fridge?			There isn't any milk in the fridge.			There is no milk in the fridge.

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

sinai_beachHey, are these sentences correct? thx

Yes.

Grammarfreak · Answer

sinai_beachHey, are these sentences correct? thx

Please note that "hey" is an extremely impolite greeting, especially when asking for help, and we strongly discourage texting style English. For you questions, Except the ones in red, the rest look OK. You seemed to grasp the uncountable questions about milk, but not quite sure about the "some" and "any " usage.

Countable nouns:

a) There is a/one book on the table. (a )
Is there a/one book on the table? ( any)
There isn't a/one book on the table.( any)

b) There are five cats in the house. or
There are some cats in the house. (few)
Are there five cats in the house ? or
Are there any cats in the house. ( Need a question mark)
There aren't five cats in the house. or
There aren't any cats in the house.
There are no cats in the house.

Uncountable nouns:

There is some milk in the fridge.
Is there any milk in the fridge?
There isn't any milk in the fridge.
There is no milk in the fridge.

AlpheccaStars · Answer

a) There is one book on the table. (If you are interested in how many books are on the table.)
There is a book on the table. (If you are interested in what is on the table.)

I do not understand the (any) that was added here:
Is there a/one book on the table? ( any)
These are OK:

Is there one book on the table?
Is there a book on the table?
Are there any books on the table?

I do not understand the (any) that was added here:
There isn't a/one book on the table.( any)
There aren't any books on the table.

And I don't understand the (few) that was added:
There are some cats in the house. (few)
These are OK:

There are some cats in the house.
There are few cats in the house.
There are a few cats in the house.

Are there five cats in the house ? or
Are there any cats in the house. ( Need a question mark) Yes. A question mark is needed.

RandomGuy · Answer

grammarfreakPlease note that "hey" is an extremely impolite greeting, especially when asking for help […]

Extremely impolite? I wouldn't say so. Impolite? Still no. It's just a bit informal; that's all. I think you're exaggerating a bit.

Now, if the OP had said something like Tell me if these sentences are correct, I would agree with you. But obviously his intention was not to be rude.

Grammarfreak · Answer

The "any" and "few" in parentheses meant to be the alternative utterance. Is there a book on the table- ok. Is there one book on the table, Ok and not wrong but unlikely the question to ask, to me anyway.

There are "some" cat in the house, To my ear, I have a few cats in my house sounds better than I have some cats...

Grammarfreak · Answer

Aspara Gus,

Aspara GusExtremely impolite? I wouldn't say so. Impolite? Still no. It's just a bit informal; that's all. I think you're exaggerating a bit.

I see. Well, let me say this. I grew up old-school. Manner and politeness were important then. I don't suppose you have ever watched " Leave it to Beaver".. You can call me exaggerating and I really don't mind. If you try to call the attention of a waiter by shouting a "Hey", one or two thing may happen. He either responds to you by saying " My name is ***, how can I help you?" or he would ignore the "hey" and walk away. Bottom line, less and less people practice mannerism nowadays, especially the younger population. That all!

CalifJim · Answer

grammarfreakPlease note that "hey" is an extremely impolite greeting

It's actually growing in popularity as an alternate form of "Hi!"

When people say "hey" to me, I say, "Straw is cheaper".

(It's from my grandmother's generation.)

CJ

Nugso · Answer

Hello! CalifJim would you mind explaining what Straw is cheaper means? I can't figure out what it means. <img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/6.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/6.gif' alt='Emotion: sad'/>

CalifJim · Answer

NugsoHello! CalifJim would you mind explaining what Straw is cheaper means? I can't figure out what it means.

"Hey" is pronounced the same as "hay".

hay: herbage and especially grass mowed and cured for fodder
straw: stalks of grain after threshing; broadly : dry stalky plant residue used like grain straw (as for bedding or packing)

Hay and straw look almost the same. See the images below.

http://www.google.com/search?num=10&hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1067&bih=713&q=hay&oq=hay&gs_l=img.3..0l10.1499.1725.0.2008.3.3.0.0.0.0.125.319.1j2.3.0...0.0...1ac.cnRhp79ao1w

http://www.google.com/search?num=10&hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1067&bih=713&q=straw+-straws+-drink+-suck+-bendy&oq=straw+-straws+-drink+-suck+-bendy&gs_l=img.3...8222.24287.0.25741.51.8.0.43.0.0.96.670.8.8.0...0.0...1ac.7Pw-LAP6vcg

CJ

Nugso · Answer

Thank you CalifJim. By the by, how wit are you!

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