Understanding the Difference Between There Is and There Are

Many writers hesitate when choosing between “there is” and “there are,” even though the rule looks simple. The hesitation grows when the noun that follows is distant, compound, or buried inside a prepositional phrase.

Mastering this tiny choice sharpens clarity, keeps subject-verb agreement intact, and prevents the subtle grammatical slippage that undermines credibility in both speech and writing.

Core Grammar Rule in Plain English

The verb agrees with the first grammatical subject that appears after it. If that subject is singular, use “there is”; if it is plural, use “there are.”

Ignore everything else in the sentence until you have classified that first noun or noun phrase. “There are a dog and a cat” is wrong because the first element, “a dog,” is singular, so the correct form is “there is a dog and a cat.”

This agreement happens at the moment of utterance, not at the moment of editing, which is why spontaneous speech often drifts into error when the true subject is far from the verb.

Hidden Traps with Compound Subjects

When two nouns are joined by “and,” they normally form a plural idea, but placement decides the verb. “There is a pen and two notebooks” sounds natural because English tolerates proximity agreement in casual use, yet formal writing demands “there are a pen and two notebooks.”

Reverse the order and the rule flips: “there are two notebooks and a pen” is now impeccable. Copy-editors routinely shuffle the sequence to avoid the awkward plural verb in front of a singular first item.

Using Or, Either Or, Neither Nor

Correlative conjunctions follow a different logic: the verb agrees with the closer subject only. “There is neither a chair nor any tables left” pairs a singular noun first, but the plural “tables” sits closer, so “are” would also be acceptable in relaxed usage.

In legal or technical prose, stick to the strict rule: pair the verb with the subject nearest to it, even if the sentence sounds lopsided. Rewriting avoids the clash: “no chairs or tables are left.”

Mass Nouns versus Count Nouns

“There is rice on the floor” treats rice as an undivided mass, so the singular verb holds even when the quantity is huge. Swap in a count noun and the plural appears at once: “there are grains of rice on the floor.”

The switch from mass to count can happen within the same paragraph. “There is coffee in the pot, but there are three coffees ordered at table five” shows how the same word flips from mass to countable unit.

Recognizing this shift prevents the common slip of writing “there is” before a plural count noun simply because the speaker visualizes an uncountable pile.

There Is with Collective Nouns

Collective nouns such as team, family, or committee straddle singular and plural depending on whether the unit acts as one body or as separate individuals. “There is a team of engineers waiting” treats the team as a single entity.

In British English, the plural override is frequent: “there are a team of engineers waiting” emphasizes the members. American copy tends to keep the singular unless the individuals are explicitly highlighted.

When the collective noun is followed by a plural complement, tension rises. “There is a group of investors” is safe; “there are a group of investors” surfaces daily in speech but rarely survives a rigorous copy edit.

Prepositional Phrases That Mislead

Writers often scan ahead, see a plural object of a preposition, and let it hijack the verb. “There is boxes in the attic” is wrong because “boxes” is the object of “in,” not the true subject.

The real grammatical subject is the expletive “there,” whose identity is revealed by the noun that immediately follows the verb. Train your eye to skip prepositional phrases when deciding agreement.

A quick deletion test exposes the error: remove the prepositional phrase and read what remains. “There is in the attic” clearly demands a singular noun to follow “is.”

Quantifiers and Their Verb Signature

“A number of” always teams with a plural verb because it distributes the idea of multiplicity. “There are a number of reasons” is correct; “there is a number of reasons” is not.

“The number of,” in contrast, points to a single statistic, so it locks to a singular verb: “there is the number of applicants this year.” Mixing the two expressions is a frequent source of editorial corrections.

Other quantifiers such as “plenty of,” “a lot of,” and “the majority of” agree with the noun that follows them. “There is plenty of time” but “there are plenty of opportunities.”

Ellipsis and Conversational Shortcuts

Spoken English often drops the noun after “there’s” and lets context fill the gap. “There’s five people outside” violates formal agreement, yet the contraction softens the clash so effectively that most listeners overlook it.

In writing, the same shortcut signals informality or outright error, depending on the genre. Reserve contracted “there’s” plus plural for deliberate colloquial color inside dialogue, and restore full agreement in narrative or exposition.

When transcribing interviews, retain the speaker’s “there’s + plural” only if the flavor of real speech is essential; otherwise, quietly regularize to “there are.”

Inversion After Introductory There

The existential construction flips the normal order, postponing the subject and forcing the verb to hold the early, emphatic slot. This inversion is why agreement mistakes glare so sharply—the verb sits in the spotlight.

Because the postponed subject is often long or modified, writers lose track of its number by the time they reach the verb. Reading the sentence aloud with a pause after the verb helps isolate the true subject.

If the subject is compound and lengthy, place it ahead of the verb to escape the agreement maze entirely: “A laptop, two tablets, and a stack of reports are on the desk.”

Relative Clauses That Reset the Count

A relative clause can sneak in a new noun that seems to command the verb. “There is one ticket left that includes three meals” keeps the singular because “ticket” governs the relative pronoun “that.”

Mis-parsing produces the hypercorrection “there are one ticket left that include three meals,” where both verb and relative verb misfire. Keep your eye on the antecedent of the relative pronoun to stay secure.

When the antecedent is plural, the shift propagates correctly: “there are tickets left that include three meals each.”

Existential versus Locative There

Not every “there” at the start of a clause is existential; sometimes it is a simple adverb of place. “There is the book you wanted” uses “there” deictically, pointing to a spot, and the subject “book” already sits in front of the verb.

In such locative sentences, normal subject-verb agreement applies without the complications of the existential construction. The confusion arises when writers capitalize on the similarity and let locative “there” drift into agreement errors.

Test by trying to move the sentence: existential “there” resists relocation without rewriting, whereas locative “there” can shift easily—”the book you wanted is there.”

Stylistic Rearrangements to Avoid Error

When the postponed subject is monstrously long or awkwardly plural after a singular first element, pull it forward. “A vase of lilies, two cacti, and a tray of succulents are on the windowsill” reads more cleanly than any there-construction.

Another tactic is to split the information: “There is a container on the shelf. Inside are pens, paper clips, and sticky notes.” The break lightens the cognitive load and sidesteps thorny agreement.

Bullet lists also escape the dilemma entirely, because the colon introduces the plurality without forcing a verb to agree with a compound subject stacked inside a single clause.

Common Collocations That Break the Rule

Fixed phrases such as “there’s no two ways about it” survive on idiomatic license, not grammar. Treat them as fossilized expressions rather than templates for new sentences.

Advertising copy routinely coins slogans like “there’s benefits inside,” betting that the breezy contraction outweighs the grammatical jolt. Mimic such slogans only when brand voice deliberately flouts rules for effect.

In instructional or academic text, adhere to standard agreement even when quoting; add sic or rephrase to maintain clarity without endorsing the lapse.

Digital Tools and Grammar Checkers

Most spell-checkers flag obvious plural nouns after “there is,” but they stumble when the noun is buried inside a complex phrase. Do not accept green underlines as final verdicts; verify the true subject manually.

Custom regex rules can catch patterns such as “there is w+sb” in your documents, yet they still miss irregular plurals or mass-noun collisions. Pair automation with a slow, visual scan of every existential clause.

Readability plug-ins often suggest removing “there is/are” entirely for tighter prose; weigh the advice against the occasional need for existential emphasis.

Teaching Techniques That Stick

Have learners physically underline the first noun after “there is/are” in printed examples; the tactile motion anchors the abstract rule. Color-coding singular and nouns reinforces the pattern visually.

Sentence scrambles work well: distribute nouns, verbs, and prepositional phrases on cards and let students build grammatical existential sentences competitively under a timer.

Finally, ask students to record five spoken examples from real life, transcribe them, and correct any mismatches they catch. The hunt personalizes the rule and proves that the issue lives outside textbook drills.