There's loads of/ there're loads of

[akelas]

Hello.
Doing this grammar test I came across this:

__________ different food from all over the world in London.

A There are a lot of

B There's loads of

C There's many

D There is a lots of

The right answer is B, but is it grammatically correct? There's loads..?(SHOULDN'T IT BE THERE ARE LOADS, IN PLURAL??)

 

[Cholo234]

There's loads..?(SHOULDN'T IT BE THERE ARE LOADS, IN PLURAL??)

"There's, when indicating or pointing to something, is also used with plural noun phrase subjects in informal contexts:

There's your pills."

(Cambridge Grammar of English, 45a)

 

[Bevj]

A, C and D are clearly wrong.
And you can't say 'There are loads (plural) of different food (singular).
The answer B is correct.
Don't ask me why, when loads is ostensibly plural. I'm sure someone with more grammar knowledge can explain.

 

[akelas]

Thank you.

 

[elroy]

Don't ask me why, when loads is ostensibly plural.

It’s because “loads” here means “a lot”; it doesn’t literally mean “multiple loads.”

 

[Cholo234]

In Fowler's Modern English Usage, the following explanation under "there is, there are" mentions "not only in uneducated speech."

". . . there is a strong, not always resisted temptation, found prominently but not only in uneducated speech to introduce a plural subject with the reduced form There's: But for every big, dumb move like this there's half a dozen small, smart details.

 

[akelas]

Ok, I see.
You know, since it was a Cambridge test, and cambridge tests are very grammatically persnickety, I ruled out "there's" but it makes sense "Loads" seen as "a lot of"

 

[Wandering JJ]

It’s because “loads” here means “a lot”; it doesn’t literally mean “multiple loads.”

Spot on. We use 'loads' to mean a lot/un montón.

If 'food' were in the plural, we would say 'There are loads of different foods from all over the world... '.

 

[elroy]

But for every big, dumb move like this there's half a dozen small, smart details.

This is different! While "there's" certainly occurs at least in casual speech, "there are" would not be wrong (and in fact, prescriptivists will tell you that it has to be "there are").

In the OP's sentence, "there are" would be wrong.

 

[Forero]

Number in English is notional.

"Half a dozen details" looks singular, but it is plural, and "loads of food", like "lots of food", looks plural but is singular.

"A number of tons of hot cross buns" is plural, since "a number of" means "several", but "the number of tons of coal shipped from Newcastle" is singular.