there is /are 5 minutes left

[allthewayanime]

Which should I choose and why:

e.g. There is/are 5 minutes left.

 

[emsr2d2]

Which should I choose and why:

e.g. There is/are 5 minutes left.

Which one do you think is correct? And why?

 

[allthewayanime]

Well I think that when we want to refer to individual minutes the 'are' choice is better and when we refer to a period of time the 'is' choice will do, but I am not sure about this.

 

[emsr2d2]

Well I think that when we want to refer to individual minutes the 'are' choice is better and when we refer to a period of time the 'is' choice will do, but I am not sure about this.

You're right, and there are other threads on here dealing with exactly that fact. In your particular example, although I would say an argument could be made for both of them, I much prefer "There are five minutes left". However, if someone said "There's five minutes left" (especially if they use the "there's" contraction) I would not challenge it or suggest that it was wrong. I simply prefer the sound of "There are" with such a small amount of time as five minutes.

 

[allthewayanime]

What about if we say "a few hours of Photoshop work" the verb should be singular or plural?




e.g. "A few hours of Photoshop work are/is hard work."

 

[White Hat]

What about if we say "a few hours of Photoshop work" the verb should be singular or plural?

e.g. "A few hours of Photoshop work are/is hard work."

is