Is/Are.

[RobbieCook]

I've been confused recently about when I should use is and when I should use are when discussing more than one thing. I'm not sure because I think in my local dialect (Pitmatic, if you're interested) there aren't really any stringent rules regarding them. For example, if I were to say:

"There's two cars outside."
"There are two cars outside."
"There's going to be a few parties."
"There are going to be a few parties."

All of those would be acceptable to locals, but I'm guessing not to people from elsewhere. So, I'd like to know in which instances a particular word should be used and why.

[curmudgeon]

All sounds good to me Robbie. What is 'pitmatic' is it a mining dialect

[RobbieCook]

All of those sentences are acceptable? If they are I'm surprised.

Yes, pitmatic is a mining dialect. People from outside the area tend to think I speak with a Geordie accent. While there are similarities, to locals the difference is obvious.

[curmudgeon]

In spoken english they all sound ok to me.

[MikeNewYork]

Originally Posted by RobbieCook

I've been confused recently about when I should use is and when I should use are when discussing more than one thing. I'm not sure because I think in my local dialect (Pitmatic, if you're interested) there aren't really any stringent rules regarding them. For example, if I were to say:

"There's two cars outside."
"There are two cars outside."
"There's going to be a few parties."
"There are going to be a few parties."

All of those would be acceptable to locals, but I'm guessing not to people from elsewhere. So, I'd like to know in which instances a particular word should be used and why.

I think most people would accept all of them informally. Nevertheless, only the plural forms are grammatically correct.