D_Gunther Snotpole
Account Disabled
Senor Rubirosa, I remember before you corrected me when I said, "there are a lot to improve" and you corrected it to "there is a lot to improve". I thought the phrase "a lot" already means plural noun, so how do I know I use is or are for this phrase? Thank you again.
You know, I'm never entirely clear about this myself, lopo.
If you said, "There are a lot of things to improve," then I would have agreed with the use of "are," because "things" is plural.
If you had said, "There are a lot of luck involved in this situation," I would have insisted on substituting the singular "is" for "are," because luck, which can't be counted, is effectively singular.
Now, the sentence you wrote was, "There are a lot to improve."
I believe (and I will gladly hear counterarguments here) that when "lot" stands by itself, it is, by default, treated as singular.