Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Cerriowen]

Grammar question:

There is a pen and a pencil in my bag
There are a pen and a pencil in my bag

AND

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

The first sounds right to me in both cases, but my co-teachers want me to back it up with grammar facts. I could resort to using large obscure words or just gibberish, to make them feel stupid... but I'd rather give them a real answer as to WHY.

[mnhnhyouh]

[mountainous]

1) There is a pencil in my bag.

There is a book in my bag.

Both objects are singular, so you can join them with AND:

There is a book and a pencil in my bag. (correct)

2) If both objects are plural, you can also join them with AND:

There are books and pencils in my bag.

3) If one object is singular and the other is plural, it doesn't sound right:

There is a pencil and books in my bag. (sounds wrong)

So I would say: "My bag contains a pencil and books."
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Try another: My car has a bumper and two fenders. (sounds natural)

[darkcity]

my guess is that "there" is the subject of the sentence and is singular. So, "there is a pen and a pencil in my bag".

just get rid of "in my bag" and sound out the sentence, makes it simpler for me.

not sure if my explanation is right, but i'm pretty sure my answer is.

[mountainous]

[ajuma]

The verb goes with the first noun.

There ARE two books and a pencil in my bag.
There IS a pencil and two books in my bag.

The reason the second ones sounds "strange" is because we usually put the greater quantity first.

[Thiuda]

Really, there are two ways that one can look at this problem, from a prescriptive viewpoint, or from the perspective of day-to-day usage.

A prescriptive grammarian would posit that according to the rule of Subject-Verb agreement the subject must agree with the verb that it takes. So, according to the above rule, the correct sentence would be, "There are a pen and a pencil in my bag." The compound subject of this sentence, "a pen and a pencil," is necessarily plural and therefore takes the plural verb 'are'. The same goes for the second sentence, the compound subject, "a book, a pen, and a pencil", takes the plural verb 'are'. Check out rule six, if you need further clarification.

From a day-to-day usage perspective, however, if the first part of a compound subject is singular, the verb following the pronoun 'there' is often singular as well. Dictionary.com had this to offer on the topic of usage:

[teachteach]

I am a professional TOEIC teacher, so let me handle this:

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

The first one, although a but awkward in spoken English, is correct. Why?
Because although you have three objects, they are being seperated into singlular and distinct components.

So, There is a book= Subject, be singular, a singular noun.
Alternatetely, There are books= Subject, plural be, plural noun.

Tell your Korean teachers, singular noun follows a singular auxiliary 'be' verb

[Thiuda]

[Chris Kwon]

I don't know who's right, but it'd be hilarious if indeed teachteach is wrong after stepping in and saying "I am a professional TOEIC teacher, so let me handle this."

[bacasper]

[Kimchi Cowboy]

[bogey666]