Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[gloria_taipei]

Which of the following sentences are correct grammar-wise?

1. There's a book and eraser next to the pencil box.
2. There's a book and erasers next to the pencil box.
3. There's a book and an eraser to the pencil box.
4. There are books and erasers next to the pencil box.

Thanks.

[gloria_taipei]

Could anyone answer my Q?

[CP]

If you had to choose one best sentence for a test answer, you would choose no. 4, because the verb and the subject are both plural.

No. 1 sounds a little funny because you are missing "an" before eraser. It would be better to have "There are a book and an eraser . . . ." That would again have a plural verb with a compound (and therefore plural) subject.

However, not everyone agrees. This topic has been addressed in this forum several times that I know of. Some people say that the verb should match only the closest noun; hence, no. 3 would be correct, because it is a singular verb nearest "a book."

Of course, if no. 3 is right, so is no. 2.

There's no doubt that in ordinary speech, use of "there's" for "there is" and "there are" is very common, and most people don't get too irritated if it's used wrong, but I would be careful on a test.
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