is OR are???

English grammar questions, answered by Alan

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ekazemi
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is OR are???

Post by ekazemi »

I just figured out a problem in my grammer, although im quite native it seems strange to me that i havn't ever thought about previously!!
Consider these two statements, which one is correct and why?

"...there is some drugs/books/pencils/documents" versus "...there are some drugs/...."


And how about IT and THEY
"it is my documents/books/.." versus "They are my documents/books/..."

Intuitively, I used to say "there are" and "They" respectively. But, I think both cases are correct at least in spoken language.
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Alan
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Re: is OR are???

Post by Alan »

Regarding the first point, only 'there are' would be standard usage in this case.

Regarding the second, both 'it is' and 'they are' could be complemented by plural noun phrases, an example of the first being

It is my books that are missing, not yours.

(not: *They are...)
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