[Grammar] when to use "is" or "are"

[The Wonderers]

would you say:

Enclosed are a project map, a fact sheet and a location map.

or

Enclosed is a project map, a fact sheet and a location map.

 

[indonesia]

Enclosed is a map ....

 

[mmasny]

Enclosed is a map ....

Are you sure about that? I would never think so... Is the other one incorrect? That's certainly how I would put it.

 

[Barb_D]

I would use the "are." There are three things enclosed.

 

[indonesia]

Isn't it just like the post a few weeks ago:

There is a man and two children in the park.

compared with

There are a man and two children in the park.

I would choose 'is' myself because the noun following it is singular. The case is the same for 'a map'.

 

[2006]

There is a man and two children in the park.

compared with

There are a man and two children in the park.

I would choose 'is' myself because the noun following it is singular.
But there are three people present. And it shouldn't matter if the single person comes first or the two people come first or if there are one of each of three different kinds of people.
There are a man and a woman and a child in the park.

Enclosed are.....

2006

 

[indonesia]

Does it not depend or whether the subject is singular or plural? :-?

 

[2006]

Does it not depend or whether the subject is singular or plural? :-?

Yes it does. What is the subject in the original post?

 

[corum]

Isn't it just like the post a few weeks ago:

There is a man and two children in the park.

compared with

There are a man and two children in the park.

I would choose 'is' myself because the noun following it is singular. The case is the same for 'a map'.

There are a man and two children, are there? :tick:
There is a man and two children, is there? :cross:
There is a man and two children, are there? :cross:

 

[indonesia]

I thank you all for your corrections , but looking through some similar posts on the same subject my conclusion is that if something is quite commonly used in spoken English then it is deemed acceptable, even if it isn't grammatically correct.
Could this be a regional thing?
Though I agree with your answers, I would still use 'is' in the above examples.

 

[mmasny]

I don't think "is" is very bad here, especially in speech. E.g., when someone first wanted to say that "There is a project map enclosed", but then thought that maybe they would add "a fact sheet and a location map". It can be considered to be an elliptic form of "There is a project map enclosed, there is a fact sheet and there is a location map."

 

[indonesia]

It's a curious one!

I asked the people who I work with this little teaser.

I said, 'What is the missing word in this sentence:

Enclosed ____ a project map, a fact sheet and a location map'.

Everyone (10 people) said, 'is'. :-?

 

[TheParser]

would you say:

Enclosed are a project map, a fact sheet and a location map.

or

Enclosed is a project map, a fact sheet and a location map.

***NOT A TEACHER***The Wonderers, good morning. (1) I think that most native speakers here in the States would prefer "are." (2) Let's remember that it is really an inverted sentence: A project map, a fact sheet, and a location map ARE ENCLOSED. It's the passive for: I enclose a project map, a fact sheet, and a location map. (3) In fact, many writing teachers suggest that "Enclosed is/are" is not desirable or even "silly." Just say, "I am enclosing ...." Thank you for your thoughtful question.

 

[Barb_D]

You can't compare this to a "There is/are" situation. There's no "there."

I am one of the people who would CONTRACT "There is" to "There's" and list multiple items, but I would not say "There is" uncontracted, and in this sentence (the original poster's) the situation doesn't apply.

Enclosed are X, Y, and Z. X, Y, and Z are enclosed.

EDIT: Sorry, I was looking at the first page. As Parser says, it's an inverted sentence.