"There is a computer and a TV."

[Rachel Adams]

Isn't it wrong to use "is" if I have two nouns? I wanted to start with "are" but there is an indefinite article and a singular word so I wasn't sure.


"There is a computer and a TV in my room."

From "English File" by Christina Koenig.

[emsr2d2]

Native speakers tend to go with "There's" at the start of such a sentence. We use "There are" before a plural noun, more than one plural noun, or a plural noun followed by singular nouns.

There's a computer and a table in my room.
There are two computers in my room.
There are two computers and three tables in my room.
There are two computers, a table and a desk in my room.

"There is" sounds unnatural to me in the first. That's probably why we contract it to "There's" which, in BrE at least, can serve as "There is" and "There are".

[PaulMatthews]

Isn't it wrong to use "is" if I have two nouns? I wanted to start with "are" but there is an indefinite article and a singular word so I wasn't sure.

"There is a computer and a TV in my room." From "English File" by Christina Koenig.

What does your book say?

[PeterCW]

Native speakers tend to go with "There's" at the start of such a sentence. We use "There are" before a plural noun, more than one plural noun, or a plural noun followed by singular nouns.

There's a computer and a table in my room.
There are two computers in my room.
There are two computers and three tables in my room.
There are two computers, a table and a desk in my room.

"There is" sounds unnatural to me in the first. That's probably why we contract it to "There's" which, in BrE at least, can serve as "There is" and "There are".

I would probably use "There's" when speaking in all those example but in written English I would use "There is" or "There are" as appropriate. I would never use "There's" in writing except as reported speech.

[Rachel Adams]

What does your book say?

It doesn't have answers. I mean answer key.

[Rachel Adams]

Native speakers tend to go with "There's" at the start of such a sentence. We use "There are" before a plural noun, more than one plural noun, or a plural noun followed by singular nouns.

There's a computer and a table in my room.
There are two computers in my room.
There are two computers and three tables in my room.
There are two computers, a table and a desk in my room.

"There is" sounds unnatural to me in the first. That's probably why we contract it to "There's" which, in BrE at least, can serve as "There is" and "There are".

Sorry, but I didn't understand your last sentence. You said "There's" can serve as "There is" and "There are." Do you mean in the first sentence "There is" serves as "There are"?

[Piscean]

You said "There's" can serve as "There is" and "There are." Do you mean in the first sentence "There is" serves as "There are"?

The first sentence has There's, not There are.

[GoesStation]

Do you mean in the first sentence "There is" serves as "There are"?

Yes — but only "there's" is natural.

[Piscean]

It's There's, not There is that can function as There are.

[Rachel Adams]

It's There's, not There is that can function as There are.

Oh, interesting. It's not even mentioned in the book. That's why it's not wrong to use it when we have two or more nouns. Because usually it is "There is an apple on the table" but "There are two apples on the table." But as it functions as "there are" I can also say "There's two apples on the table."