Hello guys! I'm preparing the analysis of a text in English (it's a dialogue taken from the TV series F.R.I.E.N.D.S.) and I can't explain to me why Joey says this phrase: "Let me tell you somethin’, there IS LOTS of flavors out there. There’s Rocky Road and Cookie Dough and Bing Cherry Vanilla..."
As I know, the subject must determine the form of the verb. In this case the subject "flavours" has plural form and I can't understand why he uses IS instead of ARE (there are lots of flavours). Is it just an informal (and grammatically wrong) use? Could you please explain it to me? :)
P.s. I've just noticed that he also says "there IS Rocky Road and... and". Is it more correct using "there are" in this case?
I just watched the clip, and as I suspected he doesn't say 'there is' as two separate words, he uses the contraction: there's. Technically, yes, it should be 'there are'. However in speech we make great use of contractions and "there're" is simply quite difficult to say (it doesn't even look very nice when written down), especially when talking at normal speed. It's much easier to use the 's' from 'there's' and roll it into the next word. It is very common to use 'there's' in front of a plural word, simply because it is easier to say.
Keep in mind here that we are looking at a character who might not speak with perfect grammar, such mistakes are common even with Native speakers.
In terms of correct grammar, "there are lots of flavors" would be correct, but then when speaking about a list of singular items, "there is" is fine, so "there's Rocky Road, etc"
If we separate the words (there is/there are) then yes we typically follow the grammar rules you know.
