There is or are? You and i am or are??

Shaerlice · Post by **Shaerlice** » Thu Mar 04, 2004 6:55 am

Which one is correct? And why???
A: There is/are a pen and three books on the table.
Do I use the verb that near the subject? or....?

B: You and I are/am going to the movie.
And why this sentence uses are?
Can someone tell the difference between A and B? If someone know that, please tell me! Thanks a lot!

Leo · Post by **Leo** » Tue Mar 09, 2004 6:49 am

There is/are a pen and three books on the table.

Answer = There is a pen and three books on the table. This is because the the "are" part of the clause has been omitted (quite common in English) such as "There is a pen and (there are) three books on the table.

B: You and I are/am going to the movie.

Answer = You and I are going to the movie. Here "You and I" is taking the place of "we" which is realized by "are" e.g. "We are going to the movie"

Hope that helps!

Shaerlice · Post by **Shaerlice** » Fri Mar 19, 2004 2:15 am

Leo wrote:There is/are a pen and three books on the table.

Answer = There is a pen and three books on the table. This is because the the "are" part of the clause has been omitted (quite common in English) such as "There is a pen and (there are) three books on the table.

B: You and I are/am going to the movie.

Answer = You and I are going to the movie. Here "You and I" is taking the place of "we" which is realized by "are" e.g. "We are going to the movie"

Hope that helps!

Thanks for your help. I think you are right. But if the sentance is "There are a boy and a girl I have" Do I should use: "There is a boy and a girl I have" ? Which one is correct? Could you tell me more, thanks a lot.
Shaerlice

jaccor · Post by **jaccor** » Tue Mar 30, 2004 9:36 am

Leo is right, the conjunction "and" separates the two clauses. Therefor in your next sentence "There is a boy and a girl..." the conjunction "and" separates the clauses "there is a girl" and "there is a boy", but the verb has been left out of the second clause.

I'm not sure what you mean by your sentence, but should it read: "I have a boy and a girl."? I'm not an English teacher, I'm just a native speaker, so someone else will have to jump in with the correction for the rest of the sentence. It seems to me that "there is" and "that I have" are redundant in this sentence.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong. Sorry for butting in, I was just passing by.