We all know that when a series of subject nouns are joined by a conjunction, a plural verb is needed. Take this example: Fruit, grains, and vegetables are good for your health. It’s your basic subject-verb agreement. But when we start a sentence with the very common indefinite subject there followed by a series of nouns (e.g., one man and two women), the normal rules go out the window. Should we use there is or there are? Not all style guides and grammarians agree, so what’s best to teach our students?

In honor of Sprout English’s new grammar lesson on There Is / There Are, I decided to create a worksheet for teachers and students who want to elaborate on the two basic rules (there is + singular or uncountable noun and there are + plural noun) by looking at what happens to the verb when it’s followed by nouns in a series. Use this explanation and worksheet to challenge more advanced students, or have it as a follow-up in case any of your students ask about nouns in a series.

A. Singular Verb

Examples: (more…)