# Grammar: "There are" "There is" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 3, 2004, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-there-are-there-is/248469 "2004-06-03T16:54:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Diddly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e19b73/32.png) [@Diddly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diddly)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2004, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-there-are-there-is/248469/1 "2004-06-03T16:54:07Z")
Which is correct? A. “For that car, there are a variety of options.” B. “For that car, there is a variety of options.” I think it is B., since the object “a variety of options” is singular. (It is, isn’t it?) Or is there a more proper C. option that I’m missing? ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2004, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-there-are-there-is/248469/2 "2004-06-03T17:23:16Z")
Yes, “variety” is singular", so “there is” is correct. But you could say “There are many different options”, because then “options” controls whether you have singular or plural is/are. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2004, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-there-are-there-is/248469/3 "2004-06-03T17:29:51Z")
Well, my instinct was to say B. But I’d be wrong (and I have learnt this in the past, but forgotten it). \*Fowler’s English Usage \* says: > [@](#): > > a noun of multitude of the type “\*a number of \* + plural noun”+ normally governs a plural verb in both British English and American English. Examples: > “A number of American banks have been the victims of a computer fraud…” I think it is safe to assume that “a variety of” should work in the same way as “a number of”. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2004, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-there-are-there-is/248469/4 "2004-06-03T17:32:18Z")
Er, just to clarify, that is to say that the correct answer is A: “There are a variety of options”, as ugly as it sounds. However Fowler goes on to say that “The number of…” would take a singular noun. So: “There are a number of Japanese cars around,” but “The number of Japanese cars is increasing.” ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2004, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-there-are-there-is/248469/5 "2004-06-03T17:59:54Z")
Well, in my humble opinion, in this case Fowler is wrong. (He’s almost always right, though sometimes a little oldfashioned these days, but even he can get it wrong on rare occasions), ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2004, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-there-are-there-is/248469/6 "2004-06-03T18:15:03Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > Er, just to clarify, that is to say that the correct answer is A: “There are a variety of options”, as ugly as it sounds. That sounds perfectly correct to me. That’s certainly the one I would have chosen. ---
**Author:** ![rsa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@rsa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsa)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2004, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-there-are-there-is/248469/7 "2004-06-03T18:15:55Z")
> [@Diddly](#): > > Which is correct? > > A. “For that car, there are a variety of options.” > B. “For that car, there is a variety of options.” > > I think it is B., since the object “a variety of options” is singular. (It is, isn’t it?) Just my opinion, but I would say option A, because I think of “a variety” as a modifier(?) so to my ears it goes like this: A. “For that car, there are options.” B. “For that car, there is options.” I am not a grammar expert, so I could be wrong, but I consider “a variety of options” as a kind of parenthetical thingy (\<-technical term). ---
**Author:** ![rsa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@rsa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsa)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2004, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-there-are-there-is/248469/8 "2004-06-03T18:18:39Z")
:smack: “a variety” = “a variety of” “a variety of options” = “a variety of” ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2004, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-there-are-there-is/248469/9 "2004-06-03T18:35:36Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > That sounds perfectly correct to me. That’s certainly the one I would have chosen. I think it is just the “a” coming directly after “are” that seems to grate. However, I would have no qualms about saying “There **are a** lot of options”, or “You **are a** knucklehead,” so I don’t know why that should be. Anyway, A it is. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Jurph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/50afbb/32.png) [@Jurph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jurph)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2004, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-there-are-there-is/248469/10 "2004-06-03T18:45:58Z")
It seems to me that “a variety of” could be replaced with “seven” or “a dozen” to give a more accurate picture of the sentence. In this case, it would be “There are (a variety of/seven/a dozen) options.” However, I think you can be granted some leeway here, since “of options” could also be construed as a prepositional phrase modifying “a (singular) variety”. There is a regiment (of soldiers) on my lawn? or There are (a regiment of) soldiers on my lawn? Each seems valid to me in a different way. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2004, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-there-are-there-is/248469/11 "2004-06-03T21:09:25Z")
Flip it around. - A variety of options is available. - A variety of options are available. Since the subject is “a variety”, I’d take the singular verb. However, group-nouns, like number, regiment, etc. are funny. In English English, for instance, the government are… in American English, the government is. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2004, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-there-are-there-is/248469/12 "2004-06-03T21:33:12Z")
> [@C K Dexter Haven](#): > > Flip it around. > > - A variety of options is available. > - A variety of options are available. > > Since the subject is “a variety”, I’d take the singular verb. > > However, group-nouns, like number, regiment, etc. are funny. In English English, for instance, the government are… in American English, the government is. Well, proximity can have a definite influence on what is perceived to be correct: From [The American Heritage Book of English Usage](http://www.bartleby.com/64/C001/060.html) > [@](#): > > agreement by proximity. Certain grammatical constructions provide further complications. Sometimes the noun that is adjacent to the verb can exert more influence than the noun that is the grammatical subject. Selecting a verb in a sentence like “A variety of styles has been/have been in vogue for the last year” can be tricky. The traditional rules require has been, but the plural sense of the noun phrase presses for have been. While 59 percent of the Usage Panel insists on the singular verb in this sentence, 22 percent actually prefer the plural verb and another 19 percent say that either has or have is acceptable, meaning that 41 percent find the plural verb with a singular grammatical subject to be acceptable. > > Sometimes syntax itself makes it impossible to follow the agreement rule. In a sentence like “Either John or his brothers are bringing the dessert,” the verb can’t agree with both parts of the subject. Some people believe that the verb should agree with the closer of the two subjects. This is called agreement by proximity. ---
**Author:** ![jawdirk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df705f/32.png) [@jawdirk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jawdirk)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2004, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-there-are-there-is/248469/13 "2004-06-03T22:06:29Z")
So it seems that there is no concensus. However, I don’t think the agreement by proximity is a very good rule. Consider: “Either John’s brothers or Sally is/are bringing the dessert.” In my opinion, both options are awkward. Despite the length, I would prefer: “Either John’s brothers are bringing the dessert, or Sally is bringing the dessert.” On the thing with “variety,” the best choice, if grammar is your chief concern, is “There is a variety of options for that car.” 78% of the panelists consider that to be a good choice. However, in casual writing, it might be better to go with whatever sounds best. Consider: “There are only two options for the Civic, but there is/are a wide variety of options for the Accord.” Here, using parallel sentence construction might tip the balance. Still, technically, “is” is correct. All that said, I would prefer “many options” to “a variety of options,” just to avoid this awkward problem. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2004, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-there-are-there-is/248469/14 "2004-06-03T22:16:54Z")
That depends on what the definition of “is” is. (sorry-- had to say it.) 😉