"Why do we have to go to Florida? There's no Christamas trees in Florida".

[milan2003_07]

Good afternoon everyone!

I'm now watching again my favorite film "Home Alone 2. Lost in New York".

At the beginning of the film Kevin's mother and Kevin are discussing their New Year's trip to Florida. Kevin isn't very eager to go there and he says the following:

"Why do we have to go to Florida? There's no Christamas trees in Florida".

Kevin seems to mean ".... There is no Christamas trees in Florida". How can "is" collocate with "trees" as "trees" is plural?

Shouldn't the phrase sound as "There are no Christmas trees in Florida" or "There're no Christmas trees in Florida"?

I've read the original phrase from the English subtitles on the screen, so it's correct.

 

[probus]

1. In informal AmE it is very common to use "there is" when "there are" is the grammatically correct form. I often do so myself, albeit with a small pang of guilt each time.

2. Don't place too much faith in subtitles. Many of them are generated by computers and therefore rife with errors.

 

[milan2003_07]

Probus, great answer! Thanks!

1. In informal AmE it is very common to use "there is" when "there are" is the grammatically correct form. I often do so myself, albeit with a small pang of guilt each time.

2. Don't place too much faith in subtitles. Many of them are generated by computers and therefore rife with errors.

I'll remember about AmE usage of "there is" instead of "there're" in some contexts.

"Home Alone", all three parts, especially the first two, are excellent for learning and practicing English.
In fact, I normally trust subtitles, though I agree they may be generated by computers. In fact, I've never thought much about it before.

 

[5jj]

There's no Christamas trees in Florida.

I might say that.

There is no Christamas trees in Florida.

I'd never write or say that.

 

[milan2003_07]

I might say that.

I'd never write or say that.

"Christamas" was certainly a typo. Anyway, thanks for correcting to the correct spelling"Christmas"!

If you may say "There's no Christmas trees in Florida", why wouldn't you say "There is ...". I thought "There's" and "There is" are the same.

 

[milan2003_07]

1. In informal AmE it is very common to use "there is" when "there are" is the grammatically correct form. I often do so myself, albeit with a small pang of guilt each time.

Could you please give a couple examples of using "there is" in such situations? I'm very interested indeed.

 

[probus]

You gave one example in your original question. Kevin said "There's no Christmas trees in Florida."

Here's some more:

1. There's lots of places that don't have Christmas trees.

2. There's some places where people don't buy Christmas trees.

Note that here's is to here is as there's is to there is.

 

[milan2003_07]

You gave one example in your original question. Kevin said "There's no Christmas trees in Florida."

Here's some more:

1. There's lots of places that don't have Christmas trees.

2. There's some places where people don't buy Christmas trees.

Note that here's is to here is as there's is to there is.

Many thanks!

Can I paraphrase your colloquial examples the following way:

1. There is lots of places that don't have Christmas trees.

2. There is some places where people don't buy Christmas trees.

 

[probus]

There are very probably contexts in which some people would not use the contractions. As I said at the outset “there's” is informal.

 

[jutfrank]

This is nothing at all to do with American English, by the way.

 

[emsr2d2]

Many thanks!

Can I paraphrase your colloquial examples the following way?

1. There is lots of places that don't have Christmas trees.
2. There is some places where people don't buy Christmas trees.

No. The thing is simply that a lot of (I'd venture to say all) native speakers sometimes use "There's" instead of "There are". When we do that, we're not thinking of it as a contraction of "There is".

 

[jutfrank]

If you may say "There's no Christmas trees in Florida", why wouldn't you say "There is ...". I thought "There's" and "There is" are the same.

No, in this respect these two forms are not the same. We commonly use there's before plural noun phrases but never there is.

 

[milan2003_07]

Thanks jutfrank!

 

[milan2003_07]

No. The thing is simply that a lot of (I'd venture to say all) native speakers sometimes use "There's" instead of "There are". When we do that, we're not thinking of it as a contraction of "There is".

OK! Great remark! Thanks!