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Originally Posted by MikeNewYork  I don't get the last point in your post. I don't agree that "there are..." violates any rule about word order. But, even if that were true, "there is..." surely breaks the same rule. |
In modern English, the subject comes before the main verb. Most exceptions are for poetic or literary purposes and deliberately break the rules for effect. There some other common exceptions, which are essentially fossils:
The "there is/are" construction (and "there exist(s)");
"Hello," said Mary.
These break the usual rules of word order in modern English. And that is the source of the error, which has now become so common that many native speakers no longer perceive it as an error.