subject-verb agreement

[hela]

Dear teachers,

Would you please tell me, as soon as possible, how you would agree the verb in the following sentences:

1) In front of him ARE / IS (?) the desk, the books, the homework...

2) In front of him ARE / IS (?) the desk, the book, the homework...

Thank you for being so understanding.
Hela

[danmahaffey]

Hela, in both cases you are working with compound subjects that must be analyzed as plural and that require a plural verb form, regardless of the plural status of any of their individual elements.

[hela]

Dear Dan,

I found the following in a site about grammar. Does this rule apply to my example?

there is / there are

There IS a chair and there IS a table in the room SO there IS a chair and table in the room.
But note:
There ARE three chairs and a table in the room.
There IS a table and three chairs in the room.
The general rule is that the verb form matches the item(s) that it is adjacent to.

Thank you in advance,
Hela

[Pete]

Dear Dan,

I found the following in a site about grammar. Does this rule apply to my example?

there is / there are

There IS a chair and there IS a table in the room SO there IS a chair and table in the room.
But note:
There ARE three chairs and a table in the room.
There IS a table and three chairs in the room.
The general rule is that the verb form matches the item(s) that it is adjacent to.

Thank you in advance,
Hela
Since Dan isn't on right now, let me give a quick reply. The rule you found is just plain wrong. Dan's reply is 100% the right one.

In a sentence that begins "There is/are …", the part that follows is the true subject of the sentence. The verb must agree with that subject, just the same as if the subject had come before the verb (and of course, a compound subject with actual or implied "and" is plural). This is one case where you definitely have to know what you are going to say before you get started; it is also one place where you will sometimes hear mistakes made.

[danmahaffey]

Thanks, Pete, for the backup.

I did find an authority who said that some experts would forgive the use of there's (the contraction) in speech for a compound subject if the first element of the subject was singular: there's a cat and two dogs. But most grammarians won't let this go as OK, and definitely they won't accept there is a cat and two dogs.

[hela]

Thank you both for your explanations. It is so puzzling when we are faced with contradictory rules on some grammar sites. To my mind it should be specified which grammar site is reliable, academic and which is not.

Another example if you don't mind:
We say: A knife and (a) fork were on the table.
And therefore we should say "There ARE a knife and fork on the table" and not "there IS"?

Best wishes

[danmahaffey]

Hela, in my opinion, you have the good fortune to have come to the best place on the internet to receive English language advice. There are more robust forums with more participants, true. And we are a small-time operation. But Pete's English language skills are impeccable, Rusty's experience with ESL students is priceless, and I have a lot of hard knocks to back up my opinions. We are also fortunate to have Mister Micawber and Dr. Jamshid Ibrahim visit us frequently with their flawless answers. And many other superb members pitch in often. All this is my way of saying, please keep the faith. We won't steer you wrong.

Yes, to be correct, you should say, "There ARE a knife and fork on the table."

[hela]

Thank you very much Dan for your advice and comfort. Actually, I was not putting your answers into question but sometimes when browsing on the net I come across comments that do not match. And this, for EFL students, is not helpful at all!

Kindest regards

[Student33]

Hello,
I, too, seem to have the same problem that Hela faces. I think I have troubled myself in browsing too many websites on grammar, but to tell you the truth some of them proved very helpful and some were just pedantic and useless. I have been a member in (English club) for quite a time now and I have benefitted from (Rusty) (Dan) (Pete) and (MICWABER) so much and I hope they keep on helping us, many thanks to them and to all the members in this fantastic club:)

[danmahaffey]

I am not offended to be questioned, but I had hoped to boost your confidence in Englishpage a little bit. And, also, to suggest that you will find more wrong truth than you can ever know in the world at large. Looking for truth is a major life goal.