I've seen arguments indicating that "There is a lot of people" is not grammatically incorrect because the subject of the sentence "A lot" is singular.
I've also read arguments on web sites that say "There are a lot of people" is the correct usage.
Are both acceptable, or is one more correct than the other?
2007-03-17 23:12:40 · 6 answers · asked by secondeye 2 in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
Yes, I realize I had a typo in the question. :)
2007-03-17 23:14:19 · update #1
a straw poll of google indicates that in order of number of hits, the most common usage is:
There are a lot of people (1,111,000)
There are lots of people (548,000)
There's a lot of people (313,000)
There is a lot of people (71,900)
There's lots of people (43,400)
the people have spoken!! grammatically correct or not! and there are a heck of a lot of them!
2007-03-18 00:23:29 · answer #1 · answered by waif 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
grammatically 'a lot' is singular. But in terms of meaning it is plural (leaving out when it means 'land' or 'job lot'). Sometimes English doesn't follow its rules of grammar: when this is sanctioned by long usage it is called idiom. It depends in part on whether you are thinking of 'a lot' or 'a lot of' as a nominal adjective modifying what follows. For example, you would say 'a lot of cats are poorly trained' because 'a lot of' modifies 'cats'. So this implies 'there are a lot of cats that are poorly trained', which would be idiomatic.
But I've heard both: 'there's a lot of cats in the yard' and 'there are a lot of cats in the yard'. It seems to me that while one is grammatically correct, strictly speaking, both are justified by idiom.
2007-03-18 03:43:39 · answer #2 · answered by a 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Who says "a lot" is singular? A lot of people indicates many people. If a "lot" was a unit of measure, such as a pound, then it would be singular and you could say there is a pound of people. But, in this case, it is not a unit of measure, but indicates several and therefore the only correct usage is "there are a lot of people".
2007-03-17 23:29:02 · answer #3 · answered by Kathleen W 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
"There are" is correct in this example. "A lot of" is used to modify "people." Try saying it without the "a lot of" and see how it sounds.
Unless, of course, you are describing a physical lot (like a parking lot) full of people. Then "there is" is appropriate.
2007-03-19 17:56:22 · answer #4 · answered by ophelliaz 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
"There is a lot of undeveloped land south of the city."
"There is a lot of people who would like to develop it."
Same meaning; same rules; same usage.
2007-03-17 23:22:40 · answer #5 · answered by ExSarge 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
isn't it there are?
2007-03-17 23:39:08 · answer #6 · answered by . 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋