Grammar experts: "There are a lot of..." or "There is a lot of..."?

[tuvor]

Seems the latter is correct to me, but somehow it sounds like it betrays a lack of grammatical understanding.

[Les BOOGIE]

1. 1st plural 2nd singular??? n/t

[deadparrot]

2. I thought

it was "are" if the thing that there's a lot of is plural, "is" if singular.

[VelmaD]

3. depends on what word comes next...for example

There are a lot of ways to leave your lover.

This is a lot of dissention in the ranks.

[tuvor]

4. But there's only one "lot".

But when you say "there IS a lot of ways," it just sounds like you're an ignoramus.

[ghostsofgiants]

7. My understanding is that the "lot" isn't the subject

The ways are the subects and as suck, you use the plural "are".

[nytemare]

12. Yep, you beat me there, looks like!

:)

[nytemare]

11. a lot isn't the subect, it's used as an adjective

you could replace the word a lot with many and much, that may make it simpler.

There are many people.

There is much stupidity with the many people.

There are a lot of people.

There is a lot of stupidity with the many people.

LOL.
:)

[asthmaticeog]

5. Depends on the object.

"There ARE a lot of contentious idiots in GD:Politics."

"There IS a lot of idiotic bullshit in GD:Politics."

Pull out the "a lot of" and you get "there are contentious idiots" and "there is idiotic bullshit," both of which are correct.

[Catch22Dem]

6. Arrrrrrrrr, there BE a lot of......matey!

Actually, I shy away from "a lot of" when I'm doing any kind of formal writing. It sounds too "slang" for me. I usually say something like "there is much..." or "there are many..."

[PinkTiger]

8. Or

There is a whole shebang of
There is a huge number of

[tuvor]

9. LOL

Like the subject line.

[Catch22Dem]

14. I try

It's my smartassness (:)) coming out!

[bain_sidhe]

10. Depends on whether the object of the word "of"

is plural or singular. Don't remember what this structure is called, but "there" (in this case) functions like a pronoun and its referrent is the object of the preposition. So whether you use the singular or plural verb depends on what the object of the preposition is.

[Tom Kitten]

13. "There are lots of"...

see they're both plural now...

[unblock]

15. it depends on if "lot" is used as a collective or not

"there are a lot of tablets in that aspirin bottle" -- referring to many individual items.

"there is a lot of aspirin being shipped to your address" -- referring to one collection of items.

[Ready4Change]

16. Singular, plural

There are a lot of Martians shooting at the local Starbucks.

Or

There is a lot of coffee running down the street.

Multiple Martians.

Singular coffee.

[Bouncy Ball]

17. There are a lot of kittens in that box.

There is a lot of dust on this shelf.

[tuvor]

18. Wipe it off with a kitten.

[Tom Kitten]

19. you didn't care for my sundog picture?

:( ;( :cry:

[Bouncy Ball]

20. Where?????

Naked sundog???

[Tom Kitten]

22. No, this one...

Granted its small, thrown together rather quickly and haphazardly, and rather ugly...but I did it for you!

[Bouncy Ball]

23. Oh my gosh that's awesome! That's my new sig pic, thanks!

:toast:

[Nevernose]

21. The sheer number of English teachers here astounds me...