Which is more correct?

Question

Hello,Could you tell me which sentence is correct?Behind him is a stone statue or Behind him there is a stone statue.Thanks

RevoniK · Accepted Answer

Both are technically correct I believe.

"Behind him there is a stone statue."

However, this sentence sounds rather awkward because "there is a stone statue" is a complete thought. In fact, I'm not positive, but I think this sentece requires a comma after "him" to offset "behind him" as a adverbial phrase:

"Behind him, there is a stone statue."

Regardless, I would use one of the following:

"Behind him is a stone statue."

or

"There is a stone statue behind him."

Nina_Nia · Answer

So 'there' should be present in the sentences like this one: In our city there are many museums.

I mean in such a structure only, Am I right? (On the other hand if I remove 'there' it would have the same structure as the first sentence in the original post).

I also have a question about 'here'. Is it optional in this sentence below?

There are many museums here in our city.

Thanks

RevoniK · Answer

I believe the following sentences are all technically acceptable.

"In our city, there are many mueseums."

"In our city are many muesuems." (My native speaker sense says to avoid this one, sadly I can't explain why. )

"Many mueseums are in our city."

"There are many mueseums in our city."

I think choosing which one to use depends on the context.

As far as the word "here" goes, it is usually only used with "there is" for emphasis or clarity. So it would be acceptable to say, "There are many museums here in our city."

Nina_Nia · Answer

Thank you very much for your explanations.<img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' alt='Emotion: smile'/>

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