do you use plural with "a lot of"

[malarina]

Hello: would you say: "there is a lot of people", or " there are a lot of people" ? "There is a lot of children" or "there are a lot of children"? perhaps that both options are possible? I would say so, but I couldn't explain this to myself, let alone to others. I'm french. Thank you, if you can help me!

 

[marget]

You should say "There are a lot of people". The expression is plural. It's the same as "there are several people". We would, of course, say, "there is a lot of confusion", "there is a lot of controversy surrounding that case" because confusion and controversy are both singular.

 

[malarina]

Thank you very much! You see, I wondered if maybe "a lot" must be considered as something in itself, just as when you say "a bunch"! Besides I was mislead by the fact that it sounds wrong to say: "There is many controversy" when on another hand you could say: "there are many people"
I have been thinking about this for a while now. Thank you very much.

 

[panjandrum]

Controversy is not countable, you say there is much controversy, there is a lot of controversy.
People are countable, you say there are many people, there are a lot of people.

There are a lot of threads discussing this question - if you search for countable, I'm sure you will find them.

 

[maxiogee]

There are various controversies raging over the use of Irish in Ireland.
Should it be compulsory in schools?
Should roadsigns in Irish-speaking areas be solely in Irish?
Should it be a requirement for a civil service applicant?
Should it be subsidied in the Arts?

That's four controversies I can count immediately, and I imagine there are more.

 

[malarina]

That's four controversies I can count immediately, and I imagine there are more.

I didn't mean to start one! Thank you for helping me so kindly.

 

[panjandrum]

Don't worry about controversies here, malarina, we can invent them at will - and often do.
Controversy, as a concept, is not countable.
Controversies, as points of disagreement that regularly lead to heated discussion and minor injury, are.

 

[river]

With expletive constructions (like "there are," "there is"), the subject that determines the verb comes after the verb. So try turning the sentence around: "A lot of people are . . ." and "A lot of controversies are. . ."

 

[marget]

You should say "there is much controversy" in the example you tried, Malarina, just as there is much controversy surrounding this question of usage right now! I hope, however, there isn't any confusion.