There was a group of girls following him.

[Tanya Carousel]

Hello. In the Macmillan Dictionary there is a sentence, "There was  a group of girls following him".
After the word "girls" there goes the clarification "following him".
So, the question is, why is here used the article "a" instead of "the"?
Thanks in advance!

 

[velisarius]

We use there is and there are to present new information: we are telling the reader that something exists. We normally use the indefinite article: There was a group of girls, and the girls were following him.

We normally use the definite article when something has already been mentioned, and the reader is already aware of it.


There was a group of girls following him. The girls were laughing at him and calling him names.

(I'm not saying that we *never* use the definite article after there is/there are.)

 

[dojibear]

As far as I know, "the" is never used after "there is/are".

"There is/are" is a verb phrase that means "exist(s)" in English. It is different than the verb "is". But it never means that a specific thing (a "the" thing) exists.

For countable things, it distinguishes between "zero of this kind of thing" and "one or more of this kind of thing". For uncountable things, it distinguishes between "none of this" and "some of this". Here is a simple example:

Is there coffee?
There is some coffee.
Are there cookies?
There are five cookies.

 

[PaulQ]

As far as I know, "the" is never used after "there is/are".

Hmm...

"In Paris, there is the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, and the Cathedral of Notre Dame that are worth visiting.
"Of course, there is the case/example of Guy Fawkes who tried to blow up parliament."
"If you buy the house, there is the cost of repairs to consider."

 

[PaulQ]

"There was  a group of girls following him".
After the word "girls" there goes the clarification "following him".
So, the question is, why is here used the article "a" instead of "the"?

This is the first time that  "a group of girls" is mentioned. Noun phrases, mentioned for the first time, are modified by "a/an".

"a/an <noun phrase>" = one [random] example of a/an <noun phrase>.

Consider:
"There was  a group of girls following him". He noticed that the group were all quite tall." -> the group = that group that he had just described/mentioned before.

 

[RM1(SS)]

"In Paris, there is the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, and the Cathedral of Notre Dame that are worth visiting.

I would call this wrong.

 

[PaulQ]

I would call this wrong.

I'm surprised. How would you say it?

 

[dojibear]

It seems like "there is" is more flexible in BE than in (New England?) AE.

In Paris, there is the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, and the Cathedral of Notre Dame that are worth visiting.

In Paris, there are three sites that are worth visiting: the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, and the Cathedral of Notre Dame.

If you buy the house, there is the cost of repairs to consider.

This seems to say that you should consider the repair costs after buying the house, rather than considering them in your decision whether or not to buy. These are better in AE:

If you are thinking about buying the house, there are repair costs (that) you need to consider.

If you are thinking about buying the house, remember to consider repair costs.

If you buy the house, you will have repair costs.

 

[PaulQ]

This seems to say that you should consider the repair costs after buying the house

"If ..., there is the cost of repairs to consider." In BE, this is a common way to offer cautionary advice in advance.

 

[dojibear]

"If ..., there is the cost of repairs to consider." In BE, this is a common way to offer cautionary advice in advance.

Thanks, @PaulQ. This is a good example. In AE (or at least my dialect), where you say "there is", people say "one has" (or it's modern equivalent "you have").

I would also change "if" to "in" or possibly "when":
- In buying a house, ...
- When (one is/you are) buying a house, ...

In house buying, you have repair costs to consider.

 

[RM1(SS)]

I'm surprised. How would you say it?

"In Paris, there are the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, and the Cathedral of Notre Dame that are worth visiting," of course.