[Grammar] "There are" or "There is"?

[gorikaz]

Example 1: There is a sofa in the living room.
Example 2: There are sofas in the living room.

I understand "a singular noun" comes after "There is" and "plural nouns" after "There are".

However, how about in the following case in which a conjunction "and" comes in between nouns.

Example 3: There is a sofa, a chair, and a table in the living room. (Is this correct??)
Example 4: There are a sofa, a chair, and a table in the living room.

I used to think that Example 4 was grammatically correct since there are three (not, one!) items
mentioned in its sentence. Is my understanding wrong?

 

[Barb_D]

The simple answer is, you'll hear both. Native speakers are likely to use "there is" because the first thing listed is singular.

 

[gorikaz]

I see. I can use either one, correct?
Hmmm, however, I wonder which is more grammatically correct? Both?!?