If there BE/ARE

[Soup Chicken]

Hi!

I'm a little confused with the following sentence:

"If, god forbid, there are/be riots between the people of "State X" and the people of "State Y", he'll obviously favour one of them as he belongs to it."

Should I use "are" or "be"?

 

[probus]

In my opinion you should use "there are".

This is a question of the mood of the verb. "There are" is the indicative mood and "there be" is the subjunctive mood. The subjunctive has become rare in BrE, but is still sometimes heard in AmE. In this case, however, I think that nowadays most fluent speakers would say "there are riots."

Having said that, I must add that it is unnatural to say "there are riots between." Although when riots occur it is often obvious that there are opposing parties, one often does not know exactly who the rioting parties are or what their agenda is.

 

[Soup Chicken]

In my opinion you should use "there are".

This is a question of the mood of the verb. "There are" is the indicative mood and "there be" is the subjunctive mood. The subjunctive has become rare in BrE, but is still sometimes heard in AmE. In this case, however, I think that nowadays most fluent speakers would say "there are riots."

Having said that, I must add that it is unnatural to say "there are riots between." Although when riots occur it is often obvious that there are opposing parties, one often does not know exactly who the rioting parties are or what their agenda is.

Which word should I use then? Or are you saying that it is better to avoid naming the parties altogether?

 

[Boris Tatarenko]

probus said "you should use "there are"".

 

[SoothingDave]

"Riots" is odd to me in this context. I would say that there may be violence between groups, or conflicts, or fighting. Maybe even a skirmish.

 

[Soup Chicken]

probus said "you should use "there are"".

I was talking about the usage of "between", which probus pointed out.

 

[Raymott]

I was talking about the usage of "between", which probus pointed out.

The Australian press often uses the phrase "riots between". I find it acceptable.
"A riot broke out between supporters of the opposing football teams." Riots between police and protestors happen all the time.