Page 1 of 1
there followed by the
Posted: Fri Oct 29, 2004 8:26 am
by Fido
There is to introduce a new piece of information which is in most cases, I believe, followed by the indefinite article. So I suppose this sentence is wrong, no?
There is the town hall on the left corner and a gym on the right corner.
Thank you
Posted: Sat Oct 30, 2004 7:22 am
by Alan
No, it's actually quite possible - if comparatively rare - to have 'there is/are' followed by a definite noun phrase. It tends to occur, however, in just this type of situation, where reference is to some geographical or topographical feature.
Posted: Sun Oct 31, 2004 2:09 pm
by Fido
Thanks a lot!
1) There once lived in Greece a very wise man.
2) There stands a church on the hill.
3) There began a long and ~ battle.
4)* There ended a long and ~ battle.
The last sentence is, I`m told, wrong. Why?
5) There ends the street. Is this also wrong?
Posted: Mon Nov 01, 2004 2:16 am
by Alan
#4 is perfectly well-formed, if a little literary.
#5 is so unidiomatic as to be effectively unacceptable on account of the combination of preposed adverbial (there) and verb 'end' with a spatial reference.
The street ends there.
or even
There ends the story.
would, on the other hand, be fine.