there is/are

Question

HiI have asked a similar question before but now I'm confused again.Why is it that you say " there ARE 1000 meters in one kilometer" ? Why not IS? since 1000 miles IS not ARE a long distanceAnd what would you use in this example which has the same structure as "there are 1000m ...." :There is/are 200 million in his bank account.I couldn't be more confused now; 200 million is a sum so it should be IS but then this sentence has the same structure as the one with "1000 meters"  which uses ARE. What on earth is going on now?Thanks!

Saud shakeel · Accepted Answer

Dude, according to what I have learnt. When the subject is after the verb then you have to see whether the subject is singular or plural before using the appropriate verb.
for instance:
1)There is only one chair in this room..
2)There are many people living in this area.
Similarly, 1000 meters is counted as plural when it is used as subject after the verb ;however, when you are saying "1000 meters is the entire lenght" then you are talking about lenght, and "1000 meters" is just a figure. It will not be counted as subject.
Hope this hepls

KJinCali79 · Answer

There are 1000 meters in one kilometer. -- You use are because you are referring to each meter within a kilometer, of which there are many meters, in fact, one thousand. (Plural)

One thousand miles is a long distance. -- You use is in this case because you are referring to the total distance. It is just one distance/length that you are referring to no matter how long or short, or how many miles are involved. (Singular)

CalifJim · Answer

MustAskWhy is it that you say " there ARE 1000 meters in one kilometer" ?

In a there-construction the verb (is/are) agrees with the first noun that follows it. There are very few exceptions.

There are 1000 meters in ....

MustAskThere is/are 200 million in his bank account.

It must be 200 million something. Let's say the reference is to dollars.

There are 200 million (dollars) ...

Nevertheless, you're right that sums of money are often thought of as single units, like this:

There is (the sum of) 200 million (dollars) ...

So it depends on how the speaker is thinking about it. Both are acceptable.
__________

Note: Sometimes, especially in casual speech, only the contraction There's is used, not There is. In these less formal situations, and in the speech of some people, everything agrees with There's! This can also be confusing for a learner.

There's 1000 meters in a kilometer.
There's a pencil on the table.
There's lots of pencils on the table.
There's two bottles of Coke in the fridge.
There's forks and knives in that drawer if you need them.

Try not to fall into the habit of saying There's for everything, even if you know someone who does this.

CJ

MustAsk · Answer

CalifJimIt must be 200 million something. Let's say the reference is to dollars.There are 200 million (dollars) ...

How is that sentence interpreted when 'are' is used? Does it mean there are $200 million in bills? If someone said "there are ten dollars on the table" I would think of it as there are ten 1-dollar bills. So if I say "there are $200 dollars in his account" could it be interpreted any differently than the same sentence with 'is' instead?

By the way thanks everyone!

CalifJim · Answer

MustAskHow is that sentence interpreted when 'are' is used? Does it mean there are $200 million in bills? ... could it be interpreted any differently than the same sentence with 'is' instead?

I think we can safely say that it is interpreted the same whether 'is' or 'are' is used, probably not 200 million dollar bills in either case. Recall that in our times, money in an account is little more than a bit pattern on a computer disk.

Of the two options I gave earlier in this thread, I forgot to mention that with sums of money, the singular is usually preferred, so in your place, I would learn it as "There is $200 million in his account".

CJ

Anonymous · Answer

"There are ten dollars on the table" may grammatically make sense, but no one would say it in English as it is very unclear. You would specify whether it was one-dollar bills or not. You could say, There is a ten-dollar bill on the table, or there are ten one-dollar bills on the table. As CalifJim mentioned, unlike Spanish where "Hay" is used regardless of quantity, in English plural nouns receive "there are" and singular receive "there is."

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