There was a bunch of kids waiting and zillions of reporters.

0 .02br
00Yes and yes. And yes.0-

0hm... how's that?0-

0I wonder if zillons is right here because I only hear people say: A million dollars etc. but no s, this is new to me!02br
02br
00And, if we can use a bunch with a singular be can we use a lot of with a singular be in formal speech, too?02br
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00btw, is my original sentence formal or not? And can we use it in writing, esp formal ones?0-

1blockquote

01cite10Belly12cite12br
10I wonder if zillons is right here because I only hear people say: A million dollars etc. but no s, this is new to me! 11b10(a million dollars, but millions of dollars)12b12br
12br
10And, if we can use a bunch with a singular be can we use a lot of with a singular be in fo

0The words "bunch" and "zillion" (even more so, zillions) are informal words.02br
02br
01i00There were several children and what seemed to be a multitude of reporters 02i00would be more formal language.02br
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00LIke Mr. M, I don't really have a problem with "There was" because it's such a common way to start a description.0-

0 01blockquote

01cite10Belly12cite10There 11b10was12b10 11b10a bunch12b10 of kids waiting and zillion11b10s12b10 of reporters. ...12br
12br
10I wonder if zillons is right here because I only hear people say: A million dollars etc. but no s, this is new to me!12b

0I believe the best correct way to write this sentence is: "There 01b00were many02b00 kids waiting (,) and 01b00innumerable02b00 reporters" or "There 01b00were many02b00 kids and 01b00innumerable02b00 reporters (,) waiting."02br
02br
00Depending on the context of your paragraph, t

0Hi,02br
02br
00'Bunch' and 'zillions' mark this as very informal and rather 'young' speaking/writing. That's fine, if that's the register that the speaker/writer wants to use.02br
02br
00Older people sometimes sound a little foolish trying to speak/write this way.02br
02br
00Best wishes, Clive 0-

0And, if we can use a bunch with a singular be can we use 01b00a lot of 02b00with a singular be in formal speech, too?0-

0By its nature, unless you are talking about grapes or bananas, "bunch"is informal.02br
02br
00I would suggest (if you want it to sound formal): 01i00There were many02i00 or 01i00There were several. 02i02br
02br
01i00There were a lot 02i00is not informal, but less formal than 01i00many