The sentence being disputed goes something like this: “In this city, there is a lot of people who…” I say that this is incorrect and that the sentence should read, “In this city, there are a lot of people who…”
Two people with more formal education than I say that “is” is correct because here the term “a lot of people” is acting as a single unit. Okay, clearly “a lot” is one of those terms which can be either singular or plural depending on the reference, but can “people” be a collective noun?
I know that a case can be made when referring to “a people” as a culture or a national identity, as in “A people is defined by its language.” But when speaking of people, not a people, is a singular form of verb as predicate ever correct?
You can use “are” if you say “…there are lots of people…” or “…there are people…” Otherwise your “be” verb form must agree with the singular “a lot” that it operates upon. IMHO.
I can only say from the UK perspective that ‘are’ is defintely right.
The people can be referred to as ‘they’ and it is “they are” or “they’re” not “they is” or “they’s”.
As I’m in the UK and I know that people in the US have a tendancy to use collective nouns in the singular I can’t say it’s defintely wrong in the US, however typing “there is alot of people” and “there are alot of people” into Google gets 4,540 results for the former and 131,000 results for the latter.
The correct form is “There am people…” But only in Bizarro World.
“A lot” as a determiner makes the noun plural (as do “many”, “most”, “some”, “few”, etc). Therefore you are correct in saying “There are a lot of people…”, in the same way you would say “There are many people who…”
I suppose, technically, you could legitimately say “There is a lot of people you might like” in the context of a slave auction. But that requires a different definition of “lot” than the one you’re using, so never mind.
See, I agree with both of you. A lot (or lots) can be singular or plural, as can most of the example determiners you give, jr8.
Some of the cookies are gone.
Some of the pie is gone.
Most of the population here is fighting against ignorance.
Most of the people here are fighting against ignorance.
So my question is if “people” (and not “a people”) can ever be considered singular. And add to this my irritation to see a lot, meaning many, used in formal business writing as opposed to many. And no, jr8, the formal business at hand does not involve a formal transaction of people.
US and British English differs in the following way:
US: IBM is introducing a new line of computers today.
Brit: IBM are introducing a new line of computers today.
Don’t know what the languge police would say, but I’ve never heard anyone say “people is”. I’m a firm believer that the majority rules in language. Rules change over time, and if “people is” was once correct usage, the tide has surely swung to “people are”.
FWIW, I would always say “are” in that sentence. But it reminds me of a question I could not answer. My son just called to wish me happy father’s day and asked me the following question. It is perfectly normal to say, “Microsoft is about to release the next version of their OS.” And it would have been perfectly normal to say that even before the advent of “they” (and related forms like “their”) as an androgynous singular. So what gives? If Microsoft is singular at the beginning of the sentence how did it mutate to plural at the end?
I sometimes refer to companies as it, as in, “Microsoft is about to release the next version of its OS.” What is more common? And is there a discrepancy with the pronoun as there is with the verb when comparing American and British usage?
The pronoun must agree in number with the subject. In US usage it’s Microsoft/is/its. Brits would say Microsoft/are/their.
I guess the Brits consider Microsoft to refer to the people of Microsoft, and not to a singular company. I used to do a lot of business in the UK and my admin help over there were constantly correcting this part of my presentations and it used to drive me crazy.
It seems to hinge on whether you’re considering “be” to be operating on “a lot,” which is singular, or “a lot of people.” I wouldn’t be surprised to hear someone say, “There’s a lot of people who…” but if you’re concerned, avoid the confusion with, “There are lots people who…,” and be done with it.
Of course, if you and the people you’re arguing with can’t reach some agreement, just change the sentence to, “In this city, many people…” It flows better like that, anyway.
I seem to recall a style manual that advised against starting any sentence with “There is/are,” precisely because it’s inclined to get you into singular/plural problems.
You can say “there is people” when you’re referring to the entire idea of people. In other words it’s correct in a sentence like this. “There are a lot of concerns to consider if we demolish those apartments for a highway, but aside from expense and time primarily there is people.”
No, the subject is definitely “lot”; “of people” is a prepositional phrase. It hinges on whether “lot” takes a singular or plural verb when it refers to a collection. The plural sound correct in this case.
