countable and uncountable nouns in one sentence

English grammar questions, answered by Alan

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Isabeau
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countable and uncountable nouns in one sentence

Post by Isabeau »

Hello,

I want to write a sentence with a list of countable and uncountable nouns. I don't know whether to use the plural form or the singular form of to be:

There is some cheese, butter, eggs and onions in the frigde.
or
There are some cheese, butter, eggs and onions in the frigde.

I think that I have to use "are", but I´m not sure. And is there a grammatic rule for ?

Thanks and regards
Isabeau
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Alan
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Re: countable and uncountable nouns in one sentence

Post by Alan »

Strictly speaking, the verb should be plural, but informally the singular is more natural where the first item listed is singular.
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