These questions move the finite verb before the words that control its agreement. Some use existential there to introduce something; others invert an auxiliary to form a question. In both formats, postpone the verb choice until you have found the following subject and its head.
Find what follows, then match number and tense
| Construction | Method |
|---|---|
| uncontracted existential there | Skip dummy there and inspect the following notional subject. Use singular agreement for one item or an uncountable noun, and plural agreement for a plural count noun. Then choose present or past from the time context. |
| inverted yes-no or wh-question | Find the grammatical subject after the auxiliary. Reduce it to its head, decide singular or plural, and make the fronted auxiliary or be agree with that head. |
| a modifier inside the following subject | Ignore a nearer noun inside an ordinary prepositional phrase. It does not replace the head that controls the fronted verb. |
Keep the contraction boundary separate. There’s before a plural noun phrase is widespread in informal speech, where the contraction behaves as a familiar fixed opening. Its register-sensitive status means that calling every instance an error would overstate the rule. These practice items avoid that dispute: when the form is uncontracted, match the verb transparently to the following notional subject.
Traps built into these questions
- There is mistaken for the agreement controller. Singular forms offered before several boxes or other plural count subjects come from treating dummy there as if it carried number. Read past it to the noun phrase that follows.
- An uncountable noun is mistaken for a plural because it denotes a large quantity. Plural forms offered with daylight or information ignore grammatical countability; those following subjects take singular agreement.
- The nearest plural noun inside a modifier attracts the fronted auxiliary. In a question whose singular head is followed by a for-phrase, the auxiliary still agrees with that singular head, not with the plural noun inside the phrase.
- A final s is mistaken for a plural marker in a singular subject name. The plural auxiliary offered with mathematics comes from spelling rather than grammatical number; the academic-subject sense is singular.
- A form matches number but not time or finiteness. Present forms in a clearly past setting, past forms in a present setting, and bare be without an auxiliary do not complete the required finite construction.
Try it
Which sentence contains an agreement error in an uncontracted existential there construction?
- There is a spare blanket in the cupboard.
- There are several cyclists outside the station.
- There is two unlabelled parcels on the desk.
- There was enough fuel for the return journey.
Enter the simple-present form of do that completes the question: How often ___ the ferry operator inspect the emergency radios?
During preparations for a science fair, select every sentence that uses standard subject-verb agreement.
- Are there enough equipment for both laboratories?
- Is there enough equipment for both laboratories?
- Why does the volunteer teams arrive before sunrise?
- Why do the volunteer teams arrive before sunrise?