a bunch of paper/papers

[amigo]

Hi Teachers,

I want to find out which one of the below sentences is gramatically wrong?

1.There is a bunch of paper on the desk. You may take as many as you need it.

2.There is a bunch of papers on the desk. You may take as many as you need it.

3.There are a bunch of papers on the desk.You may take as many as you need it.

[Casiopea]

'bunch' refers to a group: a bunch of bananas, a bunch of people. If you're referring to single sheets of paper, say handouts, try, 'a stack of papers'. If you're referring to a group of papers, say term papers, then 'a bunch' works.

As for subject verb agreement, note the article 'a'. It's singular, so the verb should be singular, too,

A bunch of papers is on the desk. => There is a bunch of papers . . . .
Bunches of papers are on the desk. => There are a bunch of papers . . . .

The word "There" is an empty subject. It doesn't agree in number with the verb. In that kind of sentence, the true subject follows the verb. "a bunch" is the true subject.

Please note,

You may take as many as you need it. (ungrammatical)
You may take as many as you need. (grammatical)