There was a pen and three pencils on the table
or
There were a pen and three pencils on the table.
In this example, the singular noun must precede the plural noun. Which verb is the correct one?
There was/were a pen and three pencils…
June 17th, 2010 by Penguin
5 Responses to “There was/were a pen and three pencils…”
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When a sentence begins with “There” and the choice of verb is “is/was” or “are/were,” you simply restate the sentence with the actual subject(s) at the beginning. In this case, you would then say, “A pen and three pencils _were_ on the table.” Or “There pencils and a pen were on the table.” Clearly “was” would be wrong. “There” holds the place for the subject, which in this case is plural. This is quite different from an “either/or” situation, where the verb should agree with the noun or pronoun closer to it. E.g., “Either the pencils or the pen was on the table.”
Oops: my reply above contains an error. The third sentence should read, “Or ‘Three pencils and a pen were on the table.’” Got my “there”s and “three”s mixed up.
I disagree. This is one of those cases where sound matters. There IS a pencil and three pens. There ARE three pens and a pencil.
Scyllacat, have you seen using sound as an aid to subject-verb agreement in any guide? I will admit “There is a pencil and three pens” sounds right, but then a lot of things that might sound right can be wrong (note for example today how many people say something like “The job will be done by Alice and myself”–it must sound right to them).
Jim M is correct. “[A] pen and three pencils” is the compound subject, and takes a plural verb.