It is not uncommon to look back at the end of the year and mark the passing of illustrious people. The Grammarnator does so, mourning the loss of two words that have been with us for centuries but which seem to have disappeared for good. You can witness their demise by noting that which has replaced them in the following examples culled from the past month’s reading and listening.
“There’s still substantial questions that need to be answered” about the attack on the U. S. consulate in Benghazi, said Sen. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire in the Nov. 28 Concord Monitor.
“There’s going to be a lot of upset people,” said golfer Steve Strickler in the Nov. 29 New York Times, when he heard that the United States Golf Association had proposed a ban on anchored putting.
“There’s some states that will refuse to set up health insurance exchanges simply because it’s Democratic legislation,” said a guest on a Dec. 3 NPR talk show.
“There’s a couple of reasons why Beethoven’s music has been analyzed so much,” said the author of a new book about the fifth symphony, on NPR, Dec. 19.
“Of course there’s male teachers at Sandy Hook,” said Soledad O’Brien on CNN, Dec. 21.
What has died? The words “there are,” which should have been used in each of the above sentences. Are, after all, is the verb that goes with questions, people, states, reasons, and teachers, and once upon a not too distant time, folks would have been ashamed to utter such a monstrous violation of subject-verb agreement.
Now the error just glides past us on a daily basis. (Believe me. I started collecting examples last January when Tom Brady said “I’m sure there’s a thousand cameras” covering the Super Bowl). My grammar check still underlines the mistake, however, and if it has become ubiquitous in spoken English, perhaps there is hope yet for written communication. If not, hail and farewell forever, dear friends.
