Which sentence is correct

Question

There is a pen and a book on the table. There are a pen and a book on the table.

Ferdis · Accepted Answer

'are': it is a compound subject and therefore requires the plural form of the verb.

Learnwithraja · Answer

"There is a pen and a book on the table" is the right sentence.

Here the pen and the book are inter-dependent and considered to be one.

Hence the singular form is used.

Ferdis · Answer

learnwithraja"There is a pen and a book on the table" is the right sentence.

Here the pen and the book are inter-dependent and considered to be one.

Hence the singular form is used.

I'm sorry, but that is grammatically not correct. We are dealing with a compound subject here; therefore, a plural verb is required. There is no way that 'a pen and a book' can be considered as a singular entity. The plural form doesn't even sound that strange, so I so no reason whatsoever not to use it.

If you absolutely must use the singular form, avoid the compound subject altogether and use 'as well as': "There is a book, as well as a pen, on the table."

CalifJim · Answer

AnonymousThere is a pen and a book on the table.
There are a pen and a book on the table.

You can use either one, because you have a compound of singular words.

Here's a usage note from the American Heritage Dictionary.

Usage note:
7. The verb following there is singular or plural according to the number of the subject that follows the verb: There is a message for you. There are patients in the waiting room. With compound subjects in which all the coordinate words are singular, a singular verb often occurs, although the plural may also be used: There was (or were) a horse and a cow in the pasture. When a compound subject contains both singular and plural words, the verb usually agrees with the subject closest to the verb, although a plural verb sometimes occurs regardless, especially if the compound has more than two elements: There were staff meetings and a press conference daily. There was (or were) a glass, two plates, two cups, and a teapot on the shelf.

CJ

Ferdis · Answer

According to what I learned, that is only applicable to subjects using constructs such as 'either or'. Either the dog or the cat is leaving. Either the dogs or the cats are leaving. Eiter the cat or the dogs are leaving. Either the dogs or the cat is leaving. Compound subjects are almost always plural, except when they can truly be considered a single thing.

But I can see now that there is disagreement about these compound subjects even among reputable sources. Another usage note says this:

But when there's is followed by a compound subject whose first element is singular, the Panel feels differently: 56 percent accept the sentence In each of us there's a dreamer and a realist, and an additional 32 percent accept it in informal usage. The Panel is even more accepting of the sentence When you get to the stop light, there's a gas station on the left and a grocery store on the right; 58 percent accept it in formal use, while an additional 37 percent accept it in informal use. Although this usage would seem to violate the rules of subject and verb agreement, the attraction of the verb to the singular noun phrase following it is so strong that it is difficult to avoid the construction entirely.

The catch is that even though 56 percent accepting it seems like a lot, it also means that 44 percent reject it, while it is likely that 100 percent would accept the plural form.

CalifJim · Answer

ferdisThe catch is that even though 56 percent accepting it seems like a lot, it also means that 44 percent reject it

So which would you rather be known as, Ferdis? An accepter or a rejecter?

CJ

Khoff · Answer

We can't officiallky "verify" an answer more than once, but I would like to support California Jim's reply. Both forms are used. Both forms are acceptable.

The catch is that even though 56 percent accepting it seems like a lot, it also means that 44 percent reject it, while it is likely that 100 percent would accept the plural form.

There's no reason to believe that 100 percent of grammarians would accept the plural form. 100 percent rarely agree on anything!

CalifJim · Answer

So I verified your response as a substitute!

CJ

Ferdis · Answer

CalifJim
ferdisThe catch is that even though 56 percent accepting it seems like a lot, it also means that 44 percent reject it
So which would you rather be known as, Ferdis? An accepter or a rejecter?

I'm not sure yet. In this particular case, I'd be a definite rejecter: 'a pencil and a book' is obviously plural.I'm not so sure about other cases. When you get to the stop light, there's a gas station on the left and a grocery store on the right, seems quite natural to me, to be honest.

Do note that I'm quite fond of arguing for the sake of it.

Oh, and when there's a minority to agree with on some obscure technical rule, count me in!

CalifJim · Answer

ferdisDo note that I'm quite fond of arguing for the sake of it. Oh, and when there's a minority to agree with on some obscure technical rule, count me in!

Hah! I think some of us have figured that out already! There's nothing wrong with having an opinion!

CJ

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