Is or are? Which is grammatically correct?

[Bob]

Cite your source please.

Both are sounding correct to me. 

Which one is really correct?

Here is 1, 2, and 3.

or...

Here are 1, 2, and 3.



Or are both correct?  I can see it as "Here is... individual piece, individual piece, individual piece."  or "Here are... the pieces."

It's is, isn't it?  But only if 1, 2, and 3 are singular.  Otherwise, it's are if the objects are plural.

[birba]

My, what a problem!  I would say, Here is 1, here is 2 and here is 3, but I would say Here are 1,2,and 3.  I think "and" is the give away.

[alessandro]

You've maybe noticed in my posts that my English is very mediocre but I'm fond of language...  My language is Dutch.   A very funny language, with lots of possibilities and a very living and a very difficult "spelling" (like, how to spell words).

I'll stick to your two examples, Bob; "Here is 1, 2 and 3" and "Here are 1, 2 and 3".

Here is 1, 2 and 3 > There is an obvious kind of climax in this statement.  Some kind of suspens, like the spirit of 'auction', in the heart there is rhythm.  There is also something as an end in this statement, an end with relief...

Here are 1, 2 and 3 > Well here you know that, once you're fully aware of the "one", - since the verb is plural - there must be something coming (in this case "two" and even a "three").   So, for me, there is not as much relief (as in landscape) than in the first example.  A part of the message is already said by using the verb "to be" in plural.

Besides that, I don't like the sound of "Here are" (hey, that sounds a bit like the piano-brand Erard).  I like more "Here is".   And also in general, I prefer the first example.   But in the end, it's up to you.   Both are possible.

Kindly    

[oxy60]

I'm voting for "are." It is a question of singular or plural. Just like "here is a fish" and "here are fish to eat."

Allesandro, your English is just fine. You keep your sentences short, not like some of the doctoral papers I've read where one sentence is a paragraph. There also seems to be no agreement about how to spell words among Dutchmen. (Just like where the boundaries are of the Jordan.)

[mrba1979]

Cite your source please.

Both are sounding correct to me. 

Which one is really correct?

Here is 1, 2, and 3.

or...

Here are 1, 2, and 3.




Or are both correct?  I can see it as "Here is... individual piece, individual piece, individual piece."  or "Here are... the pieces."

It's is, isn't it?  But only if 1, 2, and 3 are singular.  Otherwise, it's are if the objects are plural.

If the element represented by the numbers is a singular item then is would be correct in your above context.  If the number represents a group of items then you would use are.  So your example would be correct:  Here is piece number 1, number 2, and number 3.  Now lets say you were at a zoo and the lions, tigers, and bears were all in one spot you would say: Here are the lions, tigers, and bears.

My source would be the John Allen college book of gramer 1998 ed.

[weissenberg2]

I am
you are
he/she/it is
we are
you (plural) are
they are

And people say verb conjugation is useless 

[retrouvailles]

And people say verb conjugation is useless 

In English, it almost is. It is nowhere near as complex in English as it is in most other languages, especially the Romance languages. That's one of the reasons why native English speakers have so much trouble learning other languages. That, and that a lot of native English speakers have horrible pronunciation in other languages, heh.

[Bob]

I guess it's whether "1, 2, and 3" is considered plural or singular. 

It must be is.  If you take one away... "Here is 1 and 2."   or... "Here are 1 and 2."  Are doesn't sound right.

I'd go with is.  I'd still like to see it in a grammar book though.

[alessandro]

I guess it's whether "1, 2, and 3" is considered plural or singular.  

It must be is.  If you take one away... "Here is 1 and 2."   or... "Here are 1 and 2."  Are doesn't sound right.

I'd go with is.  I'd still like to see it in a grammar book though.

We have here some kind of national helpdesk for 'language matters'.   Here is what the "Language Union" says (in Dutch)...

I'll try to translate it freely... (They call it a problem of "Congruation")

If the subject of the sentence is made of two "lateral" parts linked with an "and", the verb can be singular or plural.   In most cases, the verb is put in plural.  (Here they give two examples > "A man and a woman HAVE come at the door" and "With insurance X your house and the furniture ARE insured")...
But... - and now comes what is interesting ! - a verb in singular accentuates, emphasizes the fact that the subject should be seen as a whole, a unity or a group. (Here they give two examples > "Your name and cardnumber IS mentioned on the frontside" and another example that I can not translate immediately...

So, in short, there is a difference in "emphasize"....

Kindly.

[gep]

Hmm, while I'm
1) no native English speaker (or English speaker for that matter; Dutchie here) and,
2) do not do grammar (I write ballistically, i.e. aim at the end of a sentence and let go)
I'd say that, to my feel, IS refers to singular and ARE to plural. The example given by Alessandro

"Your name and cardnumber IS mentioned on the frontside"

to me feels wrong. Extend the sentence: "Your name, address, phone- and cardnumber IS mentioned on the frontside". Does that sound right? It simply feels weird to me. The card IS singular, but the items referred to with "is" ARE plural, and thus the sentence should, to my feel, be written as "... ARE on the front side" in both given sentences, for the various fact ARE given. Take the sentence (a variant to the one given by Alessandro): "Your car and bicycle IS taken by the police". That's wrong too, right? For they ARE taken.
Is there someone here speaking English with a vengance to help out?

All best,
gep

[birba]

Oh man of little faith!!!  It's ARE.  Believe me.  I've looked in textbooks and on line but there's nothing regarding this because it's so obvious.  1 and 2 makes 3 or 1 and 2 make three?  The second one, of course, because the "and" makes the subject plural.  In your case, "here are 1, 2, and three", the object is plural, because of the "and".  Hence, here are 1, 2, and 3.  And even, yes, Here are 1 and 2.  It doesn't sound wierd.  Its sounds right.  because it IS right.  Case closed.

[birba]

For example - now you've got me started - Alessandro's textbook clarifies, IF the objects or subjects of the sentence are considered as ONE, the verb is in singular.  For example, The SUM of 1 and 2 IS three.  But, one beer on the wall and another beer on the wall MAKE 2 two beers on the wall.

[Bob]

I was just using numbers as placeholders. 

Here is an apple, banana, and pear.

Here are an apple,  banana, and pear. 


So is that it -- It's a matter of how you view those?  As a group/plural or individual?

[Bob]

At least I'm not the only one.


https://ask.metafilter.com/84536/There-is-or-There-are

[minor9th]

I'd say it's singular if you consider the items individually, so use "is". Treating items individually or as a group can be tricky. Consider bands and teams: The Beatles is/are my favorite band. The Giants is/are my favorite team. If you consider them as a singular unit, then use "is." If you think of them as several individuals, then use "are."

[retrouvailles]

Consider bands and teams: The Beatles is/are my favorite band. The Giants is/are my favorite team. If you consider them as a singular unit, then use "is." If you think of them as several individuals, then use "are."

That is also a regional thing, in addition to a personal decision. In the US, we tend to say "The Giants is my favorite team". In the British English-speaking world, they tend to say "The Giants are my favorite team".

[birba]

mind-boggling

[Bob]

I was thinking in terms of the three items being single items. 

Here is/are my apple, banana, and pear. 


I ended up avoiding the setence but I'm still wondering.  Both are sounding to me now.

[qoogla_55]

For countable nouns, you can use both is/are.

For uncountable nouns, you can only use "is".   (Eg.  Water is precious)

To know whether it is uncountable, you can know that you cannot put a number before the noun.   (Eg. One water)  ----->Which is gramatically incorrect.

In this case, 

1,2 and 3 are numbers but they can be infinite if you continue counting. Then, you can jolly well say that its uncountable since the number just continues running till infinity. Anyway for this case, "is" sounds better. But if you argue either ways, both 'is' and 'are' can be accepted.