Fix your grammar: IS or ARE - Common Mistakes & Grammar Rules

Hello lovely students and welcome back to English with Lucy.

In today's video, I'm going to talk about when to use is and when to use are and

this might seem very simple on the surface but you might be surprised by

some of the ways we use these words and the mistakes that English speakers make

with them.

Should it be there is a lot of people or

there are a lot of people?

Should it be either day are fine or

either day is fine?

We're going to go all through this today.

Now of course before we get started I want to remind you that there is a

beautiful PDF to go with this video.

It contains the full lesson summary,

we've simplified it into note form for you to make it really easy to revise from

and of course, I've written you a quiz so you can test your understanding.

If you'd like to download that just click on the link in the description box, enter

your name and your email address, you sign up to my mailing list and the PDF

will arrive directly in your inbox.

After that, you will automatically receive

all of my free weekly lesson PDFs plus my news, course updates and offers.

It's a free service and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Right, let's get started with the lesson.

Is or are?

Well the simplest explanation of these words is that they are both present

simple forms of the verb to be.

He, she, it, is, you, we, they, are.

The dog is on the sofa.

The dogs are in the garden.

So far, so simple, right?

Well, let's talk about collective nouns.

With collective nouns and these are nouns that can refer to groups of people or

things it does get a little bit more complicated.

In British English, you can usually use is or are with collective

nouns depending on how you think of the group.

If you think of them as many individuals,

use are.

If you think of the group as one entity

or one idea, use is.

Basically what I'm saying is in British

English you can't really go too wrong whether you use is or are.

Some examples.

The government are working on new policies.

In this case, I'm thinking of each individual member.

Another example.

Our team is playing well today.

In that case, I'm thinking of the team as a collective force, as one entity.

However, in American English, people usually prefer is.

The government is.

Our team is.

There are some exceptions to this rule though.

We always use are after the police in

British and American English.

The police are investigating a serious crime.

And when collective nouns are followed by another plural noun we always use are.

My family are farmers.

The committee are artists.

One thing I want to say now though is that native speakers make mistakes with

is or are or is and are all the time.

I do it myself and I'm sure I've done it

in videos.

In fact, people have probably pointed it out.

I'm giving you the rules so you're equipped with them.

But no one's going to misunderstand you if you use is instead of are.

Don't worry about it.

Don't let very strict grammar rules stand

in the way of your confidence.

Let's move on to some confusing sentences.

English learners can sometimes get confused by nouns that end in -s.

These are often diseases or school subjects like measles, mumps, physics and

maths.

Diseases.

School subjects.

Some examples.

Measles is a nasty disease.

Maths is pretty tricky.

Now note that we say maths, short for

mathematics in British English.

In American English, they tend to say math.

No -S on the end.

So confusing is and are with math.

Math, in American English, doesn't roll off my tongue is not as big a problem.

It's a bigger problem in British English because we say maths.

So it tricks you into thinking it's a plural.

Okay.

So continuing with our confusing sentences, I want to touch on compound subjects.

And this is when a sentence has more than one noun or pronoun as the subject.

When these nouns are joined by and, they are followed by are.

It's easier to understand if I show you an example.

Rita and Ross are living in Kent at the moment.

So because the two nouns Rita and Ross

are joined by and we use are.

Rita and Ross are living in Kent at the moment.

However, if the subjects are joined by or, the verb to be must match the last subject.

Always remember it's the last.

Rita or Ross is working from home-

I can't remember who.

Can you see the difference?

Rita and Ross are.

Rita or Ross is.

We're referring to the last noun, Ross.

So it's is.

Another one.

We have the Joneses or the Smiths are my

closest neighbours.

We're using are here because we're

matching it with the last noun, the Smiths.

Okay.

Now I want to look at one that I will admit I struggle with sometimes.

It doesn't come to my head before it comes out of my mouth.

There is and there are.

Again, it seems simple.

There is + a singular or uncountable noun.

There are + a plural noun.

There is a cat sitting under my car.

Singular noun.

Let's try it with an uncountable.

There is some sugar in the cupboard.

An uncountable noun.

Sugar.

And a plural.

There are four golden retrievers in the park.

Heaven.

They're my favourite dogs.

Now we often use contractions with there is.

There's.

There's.

When you have a list of things beginning

with there, use is if the first thing in the list is singular and use are if the

first thing in the list is plural.

This is the rule according to most, but

not all, most modern course books and common usage.

There are apples, pears and a huge pumpkin for sale here.

The first item in the list is a plural noun.

So we use are.

There are apples.

It doesn't matter about the rest.

Let's try a singular noun coming first.

There is a fast-food place and two

sandwich shops over there.

In informal speech, we often use there is

before plural nouns.

I do this and it's often because I'm

speaking before I've properly thought my sentence through.

Don't buy apples.

There's apples in the fridge.

That is something you'll find me saying.

Do not do this in an exam or in formal

writing, but be aware that it's common.

Some more examples.

There's a lot of people coming tonight.

There's a lot of people here.

There's a lot of people coming tonight.

Or there's five students waiting to talk

to the teacher.

Is it super correct grammar?

No.

Is it something you're going to hear?

Probably.

Now let's talk about body and one.

This sounds like a new yoga studio, doesn't it?

Body and one.

Sorry, I got distracted.

After indefinite pronouns like everybody, everyone or anybody and anyone, you

should use is.

Everybody is going to help pack up the house.

Is anyone hungry yet?

What about either and neither or either

and neither?

Spoiler, we use both pronunciations.

Either, neither, either, neither.

Just pick the one you prefer.

Will, what would you say?

Either and neither or either and neither?

Either and neither.

Would you be either and neither?

See? I either, neither sometimes.

Generally when used as determiners,

either and neither should be followed by a singular noun and then by is.

Either restaurant is fine -

just make up your mind.

Neither team is playing very well.

Either/or and neither/nor can be followed

by singular or plural nouns.

Use is when the subjects are singular.

When the subjects are plural, use are.

Neither Diego nor Alfonso is happy when

it's hot outside.

Either Gran or Grandpa is coming to watch

the school play.

Neither the cakes nor the biscuits are

very tasty.

In informal language, especially in

British English, you will hear some people use are with singular subjects.

Neither my mum nor my dad are coming to watch the school play.

In fact, that's something I think I would say myself.

Again, it's like with using there´s before plural nouns.

Don't do this in an exam or a formal context.

Now, let's talk about either of and

neither of.

I'm now totally overthinking how I

pronounce these words.

I just say both.

These phrases are usually followed by a determiner + a plural noun or a pronoun.

After the phrase either of and neither of, you can use is or are.

Neither of them is capable of fixing the fault.

Neither of the referees are very good at their job.

Okay, that was a lot of information, and I know grammar is particularly tiring, so

I think we should finish the lesson with a little quiz.

Are you ready?

Is or are?

There are five questions in total, and I will give you five seconds to think.

Number one, physics ___ a fascinating subject, but unfortunately, I had a bad teacher.

What do you think?

Is or are?

Is, Physics is.

Just like maths.

Number two, the cats and dogs in the

neighbourhood ___ always playful and friendly with each other.

What do you think?

Is or are?

It's are.

The cats and dogs are.

Number three, either day ___ fine for me, be

it Saturday or Sunday.

That's quite advanced at the end.

What do you think?

Is or are?

It's is.

Either day is fine for me.

Okay, next one.

My family ___ planning on coming to stay with me next weekend.

Is or are?

Okay, this was a trick one.

It can be is or are in British English, but it tends just to be is in American English.

And finally, there ___ various spices, herbs, and a selection of exotic teas at

the local bazaar.

Is or are?

Are.

We look at the first in the list.

Various spices, plural, so it's are.

There are various spices and the rest.

Okay, how did you do?

Share your score out of five in the

comment section.

I want to know if this lesson has worked.

If you've actually learnt the difference between is and are.

Don't worry if you find it difficult.

That's why we've created the free PDF, so

you can review and revise all of the information in the video and try another

quiz to test your knowledge.

The link for that is in the description

box as always.

I really hope you've enjoyed today's lesson.

If you like the way I teach and plan my videos and materials, you will love my

English courses.

Visit englishwithlucy.com.

We've launched our B1, B2 and C1 programmes.

And if I do say so myself, they're really good.

The students love them.

Look at all the lovely things they've had

to say about them.

Yes, super proud of these courses and

very excited for you to try them.

Right, I will see you soon in another video.