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Brb Posted 20 years ago
Grammar
There is/are a couple of/a lot of
Hi,
Could someone explain me which one is correct and why?
There is a couple of banks
There are a couple of banks
There is a lot of problems
There are a lot of problems
There is a lot of noise
There are a lot of noise
How can I know when I use "there is" or "there are" when I'm using "a couple of" or "a lot of" in a sentense??
Thanks in advance
Could someone explain me which one is correct and why?
There is a couple of banks
There are a couple of banks
There is a lot of problems
There are a lot of problems
There is a lot of noise
There are a lot of noise
How can I know when I use "there is" or "there are" when I'm using "a couple of" or "a lot of" in a sentense??
Thanks in advance
Top answer
You use "are" with both "a couple of" and "a lot of". Even though the "a" is present in both " a couple of" and "a lot of", they both refer to more than one object. So you have to use the plural.
- You use "are" with both "a couple of" and "a lot of".
- Even though the "a" is present in both " a couple of" and "a lot of", they both refer to more than one object.
- So you have to use the plural.
- For uncountable nouns, though, eg "noise", "wealth", "intelligence" etc, you use the singular "is".
- "A couple of" means "two", and "a lot of" means "many/much".
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4 Answers
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You use "are" with both "a couple of" and "a lot of". Even though the "a" is present in both "a couple of" and "a lot of", they both refer to more than one object. So you have to use the plural. For uncountable nouns, though, eg "noise", "wealth", "intelligence" etc, you use the singular "is".
"A couple of" means "two", and "a lot of" means "many/much". If you were using "tw
"A couple of" means "two", and "a lot of" means "many/much". If you were using "tw
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TearsofjoyThere is much noise - correct (noise is uncountable)Although grammatically correct, the quoted sentence is not normally possible. It would be much natural to say There is a lot of noise.
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You're welcome, brb.
Teo, you are quite right. "There is much noise" is not used at all nowadays, and I too am in doubt as regards its grammatical correctness. However, in order to judge the correctness of the sentences brb has given above, I could think of no other, better method.
Cheers,
- Joy
Teo, you are quite right. "There is much noise" is not used at all nowadays, and I too am in doubt as regards its grammatical correctness. However, in order to judge the correctness of the sentences brb has given above, I could think of no other, better method.
Cheers,
- Joy
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