There is\are

Hi Everybody I am interested in this website and would like to learn more about English.

I think that the correct answer is there is acouple of things

because (couple) singular so if it is 2 couples or more we can say that there are 2 couples of.....whaterver


I don't know if my answer is correct so tha English native speakers should help us here to understand this point

Best Wishes ;-)

I would say, "there are a couple of things I need to do" rather than, "there is a couple of things I need to do", but I would be more likely still to say simply "there's a couple of things I need to do".

Well....

In my opinion there's a couple of things I need to do. It's correct :up:

Because as someone else said couple refers to a unite

Plural will be There're many things I need to do :lol: many refers to more than two things and couple is an uncountable noun also.

I'll wait for your comments....

I ain't a native one
but all I know when there's a sentence using 'a' or 'an' in front of a noun, it means singular

there ... a couple of things I need to do
So, I choosed is instead of are

It was confusing for me when seeing 'things' (plural) after 'a couple' (singular), could someone explain to me, please?

Andi Pangeran said:

I ain't a native one
but all I know when there's a sentence using 'a' or 'an' in front of a noun, it means singular

there ... a couple of things I need to do
So, I chose is instead of are

It was confusing for me when seeing 'things' (plural) after 'a couple' (singular), could someone explain to me, please?

Click to expand...

"A couple of" has two different meanings. If it refers to two things or two people of the same kind, it is considered as a unit. Then we use a singular verb: There is a couple of things.... If it refers to "several or a few" individual things, then we can use a plural verb: There are a couple of things...

Look at the following sentences:

There is a pair of shoes in the box.
A number of students are absent from class.
The number of unemployed people is astonishing.

But when we see definite collective nouns considered as a unit in structures like a bunch of, an army of, a bundle of, a herd of, or a fleet of followed by a plural noun, we usually use a singular verb.

For example,

A fleet of ships was floating in the harbor.
A herd of cows was walking across the road.

I hope this helps!

"Couple" means "two" but "a couple of" can refers to "several" instead of just "two". For example, I can say "a couple of things to do" when I want to say "several things to do".

thincat said:

"Couple" means "two" but "a couple of" can refers to "several" instead of just "two". For example, I can say "a couple of things to do" when I want to say "several things to do".

Click to expand...

Thank you, but this comment has nothing to do with whether "is" or "are" is the correct choice.

(And I disagree. While "a couple of" could mean "a few" it does not mean "several.")

"is" is using for singular,'n' are for plural
...read only 1st page..

yah, i just need the answer.. is or are?

There are a couple of things I need to do. In this case are is for two, a couple of, some, some more, things. Is would be for singular, one thing, something.

I'd also go for "are", I really wonder which one is correct.