The subject in existential ("there is/are") constructions is the dummy pronoun "there," so you can't use subject-verb agreement because "there" is neither singular nor plural. You therefore have to use one of the other types of verb agreement: Proximity agreement - the verb agrees with the number of the closest noun, even though it's not the subject. This is generally what style guides recommend for formal writing. So since the noun closest to the verb in your example is singular "a cat," the singular verb "is" would be correct under proximity agreement. If the second noun were plural, you'd still use "is" because the noun closest to the verb is still singular: "There is a cat and two dogs in the yard." If "two dogs" came directly after the verb, you'd use the plural verb form: "There are two dogs and a cat in the yard." Notional agreement - the verb is conjugated according to the intended meaning. Since you're talking about two (or more) animals, you would use the plural verb form to reflect this: "There are a cat and a dog in the yard," "There are a cat and two dogs in the yard," etc. So both "is" and "are" are correct in your example (and in many existential constructions), though it might be advisable to use proximity agreement in formal writing. Answer from Boglin007 on reddit.com
British Council
learnenglish.britishcouncil.org › grammar › a1-a2-grammar › using-there-there-are
Using 'there is' and 'there are' | LearnEnglish
April 18, 2023 - We use there is for singular nouns and there are for plural nouns. There is a restaurant in the station.
Grammarly
grammarly.com › blog › grammar › there-is-there-are
There Is vs. There Are: How to Choose? | Grammarly Blog
December 16, 2020 - Use there is when the noun is singular (“There is a cat”). Use there are when the noun is plural (“There are two cats”). Here’s a tip: Want to make sure your writing shines?
Do you use "there is" or "there are" if you have more than 1 item but they're each in the singular, eg "there is/are a cat and a dog"? Does it change if the second item is in the plural?
The subject in existential ("there is/are") constructions is the dummy pronoun "there," so you can't use subject-verb agreement because "there" is neither singular nor plural. You therefore have to use one of the other types of verb agreement: Proximity agreement - the verb agrees with the number of the closest noun, even though it's not the subject. This is generally what style guides recommend for formal writing. So since the noun closest to the verb in your example is singular "a cat," the singular verb "is" would be correct under proximity agreement. If the second noun were plural, you'd still use "is" because the noun closest to the verb is still singular: "There is a cat and two dogs in the yard." If "two dogs" came directly after the verb, you'd use the plural verb form: "There are two dogs and a cat in the yard." Notional agreement - the verb is conjugated according to the intended meaning. Since you're talking about two (or more) animals, you would use the plural verb form to reflect this: "There are a cat and a dog in the yard," "There are a cat and two dogs in the yard," etc. So both "is" and "are" are correct in your example (and in many existential constructions), though it might be advisable to use proximity agreement in formal writing. More on reddit.com
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June 8, 2023There have, There has, There is, There are? | UsingEnglish.com ESL Forum
Hi All, I always hear people say there are or there is, for instance, when I say there is a boy, can I say there has a boy? There are two men, can I say there have two men? In my country, my teacher said we shouldn't use there has or there have as these are grammatically incorrect, we need to... More on usingenglish.com
grammatical number - “There’s” or “There are”? - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange
I suppose that it could be explained ... meaning is clear, you don't care for total grammatical accuracy. I guess it's to some extent positive, because it allows a language to evolve. At the same time, I think that non-native speakers need the steady support of grammar before entering such unsafe ground. You can easily overstep the line between innovation and incorrectness. ... When a [native-speaking English] person says "There's + plural noun (phrase)" in their minds they are saying "There ... More on english.stackexchange.com
There are not many people - There is not many people
Standard English calls for are. Though there is the grammatical subject of the sentence, you can think of plural people as a sort of displaced subject. In sentences beginning with there is/there are, the verb tends to agree with that displaced subject. Many speakers use there is regardless of the number of that displaced subject. (This happens even more frequently with there's.) But most speakers will prefer are in your sentence, and that's definitely what you want if this is for any sort of formal context. More on reddit.com
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December 17, 2015Videos
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English Grammar Revolution
english-grammar-revolution.com › home › usage & rules › there is
There is... There are... Expletive Construction
---> Many leaves are on the ground. There is trying to trick you into thinking that it is the subject, but it's not. It's an expletive. In the world of grammar, expletives aren't swear words.
Grammar
grammar.cl › Present › ThereIsThereAre.htm
There Is There Are | Learn English Grammar with Woodward English | There is / There are QUIZ
Is there any ice-cream in the freezer? - Yes, there is. If we want to find out the number of objects that exist we use How many in the following form: How many + plural noun + are there (+ complement). ... See our new English grammar lesson about There is vs.
Reddit
reddit.com › r/grammar › do you use "there is" or "there are" if you have more than 1 item but they're each in the singular, eg "there is/are a cat and a dog"? does it change if the second item is in the plural?
r/grammar on Reddit: Do you use "there is" or "there are" if you have more than 1 item but they're each in the singular, eg "there is/are a cat and a dog"? Does it change if the second item is in the plural?
June 8, 2023 - If one prefers "There is a book and a pen in my bag" then one must also prefer "A book and a pen is there in my bag", which would be absurd. In each case "there" is just an adverb and the subject is plural, therefore "are" is required.
Ellii
ellii.com › blog › there-is-there-are
Learning to Use and Teach There Is vs. There Are – Ellii Blog - Ellii (formerly ESL Library)
Merriam-Webster defines euphony as “pleasing or sweet sound; especially: the acoustic effect produced by words so formed or combined as to please the ear.” Euphony helps explain the less-than-logical situation of there is + nouns in a series. Note that not everyone agrees on how to treat there with a series of nouns. Some grammar books consider the rules mentioned in this post to be standard. For example, Collins Cobuild English Grammar states “You use a singular form of ‘be’ when you are giving a list of items and the first noun in the list is singular or uncountable.”
Perfect English Grammar
perfect-english-grammar.com › there-is-there-are.html
There is / There are
May 18, 2021 - Click here for our complete programme to perfect your English grammar. If we want to say that something exists or doesn't exist somewhere or at some time, we often use 'there + be'. It's often used to talk about something for the first time in a conversation.
Cambridge Dictionary
dictionary.cambridge.org › us › grammar › british-grammar › there-is-there-s-and-there-are
There is, there’s and there are - Cambridge Grammar
We use there is and there are when we first refer to the existence or presence of someone or something:
AVI
avi.cuaed.unam.mx › uapa › avi › ing_1 › U_5 › ing1_u5_t1 › index.html
There is and There are
There are is used with plural countable nouns. Look at the following examples: There are twenty chairs in the classroom. There are two trees outside my house. There are some 20-peso bills in my wallet. There are many people outside the school. In these expressions we can use different words ...
Easyworldofenglish
easyworldofenglish.com › lessons › lesson-14-there-is-there-are-there-will-be
Lesson 14: There is / There are / There will be – EWE – Easy World Of English
There is = singular and non-countable nouns. There are = plural and countable nouns.
Test-English
test-english.com › grammar › a1 grammar lessons and exercises
There is, there are / there was, there were - Test-English
May 13, 2025 - There is, there are – it is, they are. We use 'there is' and 'there are' to say that something exists. A1 – Elementary English grammar and exercises.
Woodward English
woodwardenglish.com › home › to be › there is / there are
There is / There are | Woodward English
January 28, 2025 - There is a book on the table. (One book = singular) There are two books on the table.
Ginseng English
ginsengenglish.com › blog › there-is-and-there-are
There is and There are in English Grammar | Ginseng English | Learn English
March 27, 2022 - "There is" is singular, and "There are" is plural. This article explains how to use "there is" and "There are" with affirmative forms, negative forms, question forms, contractions, and lots of examples!
Flyer
flyer.vn › home › tiếng anh cho bé › ngữ pháp tiếng anh
Cách dùng There is và There are trong tiếng Anh: Trọn bộ hướng dẫn chi tiết và bài tập luyện tập
October 30, 2023 - Cách dùng There is và There are trong tiếng Anh có sự khác biệt, nhưng công thức chung vẫn là: There + is/ are + N (danh từ)
Quick and Dirty Tips
quickanddirtytips.com › home › expletive sentences: should you start with ‘there is’ or ‘there are’?
Is it bad to start sentences with "there are"?
February 19, 2024 - In grammar, an expletive is a sentence that starts with phrases such as “there is,” “there are,” and “it is. “The two meanings have something in common though: they both essentially refer to filler words.
Grammar Book
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Should We Use There Is and There Are? - The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation
April 21, 2023 - There are too many orange M&Ms in this bowl. There is a lot of congestion on I-88 into the city. There's a piece of confetti in your hair. If you're an American communicating in American English, such statements are as common as corn in the Midwest. There is, there are, and the contracted there's are
Super
assets.super.so › dd14dfd7-0d06-4d3e-b02a-ef523ae7da6b › files › db0bcecf-9b44-4554-9831-30bf1d05feb9.pdf pdf
There Is / There Are – Grammar Practice Worksheets – Ellii
Grammar Notes cont. C. Questions · Yes/no questions with “there” begin with the Be verb. This is the normal · pattern for simple present tense questions with Be. Short answers include · “Yes, there is/are” and “No, there isn’t/aren’t.”
Blueblocnotes
blueblocnotes.com › grammar › present-tenses › there-is-there-are
www.blueblocnotes.com - Gramática Inglés: There is y There are
Yes, there is. / No, there isn’t. ... Yes, there are.
UsingEnglish.com
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There have, There has, There is, There are? | UsingEnglish.com ESL Forum
November 19, 2009 - I think it's best to tell him his teacher is right, and not to be one of the millions down there uttering things like "Here, have many people." The important thing yiuho is to remember that the "THERE" in the phrases there is, there are, there was, there were do not mean 里邊, it is just part of the phrase.
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Neither of your sentences sounds immaculately grammatical to me, especially the second one. You’re right that people do say these things, sometimes. Here’s why.
First of all, a lot of X takes the number of X, because it can be used on both count nouns and mass nouns:
A lot of our farmers are suffering from the drought.
There are a lot of farmers suffering from the drought.A lot of the trouble comes from the lack of rain.
There’s a lot of trouble from the lack of rain.
Sometimes you can start of your a lot of thinking it singular or plural before you finish it off, so that will stick in your head and you’ll leave that as the number when you get to the verb without subjecting to careful analysis. This is speech, remember, so people don’t have time to think too much. Text messages and quickly jotted Post-it notes still count as speech, not written languages.
Next, there are legitimate situations where there is introduces a plural and nobody thinks a thing about it:
Oh look, there’s your mom and dad!
Just as they might say
Hey, here comes your mom and dad!
Even though technically, you would use come there in the plural. But here comes is too much of a set phrase, just as there is has become, to always think too much about formal agreement. Furthermore, many speakers will sometimes use there is as a generic existential that doesn’t take number into account.
How many for dinner? Why, there’s just the two of us.
There’s just three things you need to know about women, son.
This may occur in rapid, casual speech in ways that more careful writers may rewrite into the plural as needed when setting things down in formal writing.
How many for dinner? Why, there are just the two of us.
There are just three things you need to know about women, son.
Or not.
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Hang on, slow down here!
There are two different matters being questioned here.
1) Why is "a lot" preceded by is
A lot in this sense describes a certain group of something, which is singular. There are many other similar words, examples:
There is a lot of people here.
There is a team of people working on this project.
There is a group of bystanders watching the accident.
2) Why is "there are" sometimes shortened to "there's"
Yes, this actually does happen. I'm not claiming it's grammatical, but people do it. Simply for the reason that you cannot shorten "there are" to "there're." In that case, you can say "there's" when meaning "there are", but this can be used only in spoken or informal English. Examples:
There are many apples on the table. => There's many apples on the table.
For further reference see Is “there're” (similar to “there's”) a correct contraction?, where the currently accepted answer states:
A huge number of English speakers, even those that are well-educated, use there's universally, regardless of the number of the noun in question, so you will probably not receive any odd looks for saying or writing there's, and if you do, just cite the fact that it can't be incorrect if a majority of people use it.