I have a question concerning "There IS/ There ARE" structures. Which sentence is correct:
1. There IS a hospital, a restaurant and two big shops in that street.
or
2. There ARE a hospital, a restaurant and two big shops in that street.
and similarly:
3. My hobby IS swimming and dancing.
or
4. My hobbIES ARE swimming and dancing.
1. and 4. are correct.
D.A.M. Y
addendum to Paul's response:
if you change "in" to "on" (i.e. "...and two big shops ON that street"), then 1. and 4. would be correct.
According to 'Advanced Grammar in Use' by Martin Hewings, "If the noun phrase consists of two or more nouns in a list, we use a singular verb if the first noun is singular or uncountable, and a plural verb if the first noun is plural." (Unit 115 There is, there was etc. page 230).
Thank you for your replies.
there is an (and not a) hospital
"there is an (and not a) hospital"
I don't know about BrE, but in AmE we rarely (if ever) use the "an" article in front of words beginning with an "h" unless it is silent.
a hospital
a house
a hole in the wall
an honor
an hour
an honest person
you use an when the next word starts with a vowel. such as "an elephant"
The only time you'll see "an" before a word beginning with "h" in AmE is with "historical." Sometimes one will hear "an historical.....", but not always.
I wouldn't put "an" before "hospital."
You wouldn't say/write "an hospital". D has go the rule mixed up. You only use "an" if the vowel after the [h] is unstressed (i.e. [..]). So "historical" ==>> [h..'storik.l] thus "an historical" but "history" ==>> ['hist..ri(:)] thus "a history" and "hospital" ==>> ['hosp..t.l] thus "a hospital".
D has got the rule mixed up.
this is what i learned at school but i observed the english (don't really with americans) do not use it. In fact it comes from french un hôpital wich is (or was) in english an hospital.
If it is "something" AND "something", then you say "ARE", because there is more than one thing. It's plural. So you say "A cat and a dog ARE".
If you say something" OR "something", then you say "IS", because it is singular. You say "A cat or a dog IS".
You would say "There ARE two cats, a dog and a man."
BUT you also say "There IS a cat, a dog and a man." This sentence has more than one subject in it, but you say IS because you say IS for each subject individually, rather than all the subjects combined. If you know what I mean. It is a short way of saying "There is a cat, there is a dog, and there is a man."
In French it is much simpler, because they say "Il y a" which means both "There is" and "There are."
They say "Il y a une maison." Which means "There is a house." Or "There is one house."
"Il y a deux maisons" means "There ARE two houses". In French it is easier.
Hi. I notice AmE uses "a" even with "hour", which actually starts with a vowel sound although it's spelt with an "h". BritE as far as I know don't pair "a" with any wordthat starts with vowel sounds or "an" with a consonant sound even if it's a weak consonant sound. I like this rule because it makes life so much simpler. It eliminates all the "is it a weak "h" sound or strong "h" sound" kind of question. Thus, we've got "a house", "a hysterical...", "an hour", "an FM radio". F here having the vowel sound in "elephant". Yes, "an elephant". Hope I was of some help.