There are or there is??grammar confusion
By RUBESH
@Manasha (2845)
Pondicherry, India
February 6, 2013 8:02am CST
I wrote a test on subject verb agreement and got a confusing question as follows
There ____ lots of money under the sofa.
I wrote
There _are___ lots of money under the sofa.
But the answer is not correct as per the examiner because he told me to write is instead of are
How come the verb is comes here because lots denote plural meaning.?
3 people like this
4 responses
@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
6 Feb 13
The object of the verb is 'lots of money'. 'Lots' looks like a plural noun but it is an idiom - 'lots of' = 'a large amount of' - and an adjective and whether it is singular or plural depends on the noun it qualifies. In this case 'money' is a singular collective noun, so "There is [lots of] money under the sofa" is correct. On the other hand, you should say "There were lots of people" or "lots of coins" or "lots of banknotes", since people, coins and banknotes are 'numerable'.
In fact, 'lots of' is generally thought of as a colloquial expression and should be avoided in formal English. The correct meaning of 'a lot' is a 'collection' or a 'parcel of things taken together'. It is often used in auctions or sales when the buyer bids or pays a certain amount for a 'lot' or collection of items. Of course, it can also be used in the plural "There were several lots of antique clocks in the auction".
2 people like this
@mythociate (21432)
• Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
6 Feb 13
I think 'lots of' is the same thing as 'a lot of.' Singular in both cases ... `AHH HAS SPOKEN! 
1 person likes this
@Sir_Artur (22)
• Turkmenistan
7 Feb 13
In english, there are countable and non-countable nouns, so money is non-countable noun and "are " is not used in uncountable nouns, if u havent hear about it, the I suggest u to search about countable and uncountable nouns, "there is" is true.
1 person likes this
@sweety_81 (2124)
• India
7 Feb 13
Hmmm... heard about countable and non-countable stuff for the first time.
Looks like "Wren and Martin" stuff!
@sweety_81 (2124)
• India
7 Feb 13
This seems like a good link:
http://www.englishclub.com/grammar/nouns-un-countable_2.htm
@sweety_81 (2124)
• India
7 Feb 13
Some of the language rules are not so simple to understand. People who have a different native language(or mother tongue) do find difficulty in understanding these rules. Yet, do not despair. There is always scope of improvement as I myself have learnt!
@angelkarah050182 (4980)
• Philippines
7 Feb 13
"Is" is the right answer. There is lots of money under the sofa. We use "there is" for uncountable nouns such as sugar, water, money, etc." We use "there are" for countable nouns such as bags, computers, desks. "Lots of" or "a lot of" are just used as quantifiers. They mean the same and they can be used with countable and uncountable nouns.
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