Is the following sentence incorrect?
3.There are a cake and some sandwiches in the basket.
NOT A TEACHER
Hello, winwin:
1. The question that you have asked always causes much vigorous debate on grammar helplines.
2. According to some books, "There
are a cake and some sandwiches in the
basket" is correct (as hhaapp told us).
a. The reasoning goes like this:
i. In analyzing a sentence, we should forget the word "there."
ii. Thus, we have: "A cake and some sandwiches
are in the basket."
3.
NEVERTHELESS, in the real world of native speakers, most (?) speakers prefer "is" because the first item in your
sentence ("a cake") is singular. To most native speakers (especially in speech), "There
is a cake [and some
sandwiches]" sounds more natural than "There
are a cake [and some sandwiches]."
4. I think that most fair-minded teachers avoid this kind of question on a test because there are two "correct"
answers.
5. I suggest that you follow the guidance of the other posters and say "There IS a cake and some sandwiches."
But if you
read a sentence such as "There are a cake and some sandwiches in the basket," please remember that
it is not "
incorrect" -- according to some reputable sources.
6. Here is an example:
"There
were a yacht, a plane, a motor launch and weekends with Princess ____ and Lord ____."
Here is the explanation: "The
were is
unarguably correct [my emphasis], but, as we said, some writers prefer a
singular verb in a series such as that in which the first item is singular, and their preference is not usually disputed."
(
Dos, Don'ts & Maybes of English Usage (1977) by Mr. Theodore M. Bernstein (who worked at
The New York Times for
many years.)
HAVE A NICE DAY!