There (be) said to be
It's said that there are five apples on the table.
There are said to be five apples on the table.
There is said to be five apples on the table.
Please, tell me which of the last two sentences is correct and why

Question

Answer

There ARE said to be five apples on the table. (Because 'apples' is plural, we use 'are').

Answer

I would say that both "there is" and "there are" are acceptable here. "there is" feels more natural and "there are" more formal. Grammatically, I am not quite sure if or why "there is" is OK. My guess is that what follows "there is said to be" feels like a single notion. Or perhaps the distance between "there" and the plural nouns (4 words) is so long that it doesn't feel like a grammatical mistake.

Answer

If it were just one apple:

There is said to be an/one apple on the table.

Answer

If it were just one apple:

There is said to be an/one apple on the table.