SAT® · Reading and Writing: Form, Structure, and Sense — Agreement
Inverted Sentences and There Is versus There Are
In sentences starting with "there" or another opener, the subject sits after the verb, not before it. Find that subject and match the verb to it, ignoring "there" and anything else parked between them.
Normal English order is subject first, verb second: 'Four moons are visible.' Inverted sentences flip that order. 'There are four moons visible tonight' moves the verb in front of the subject, so 'are' seems to agree with 'there' when it actually agrees with 'moons.' The test exploits this by making you check the wrong word.
To fix an inverted sentence, mentally unwind it. Take whatever comes after the verb and slide it to the front, then read the sentence in normal order. 'There stand four cabinets along the wall' becomes 'Four cabinets stand along the wall' - plural subject, plural verb, no ambiguity. The same trick works for openers other than 'there': 'Among the ruins stands a lone column' unwinds to 'A lone column stands among the ruins,' confirming the singular verb.
This topic is really the same agreement rule you already use, just disguised by word order. Once you find the true subject, every rule you know - compound subjects joined by 'and' take a plural verb, subjects joined by 'or' match the nearer one, collective nouns stay singular - applies exactly as it would in a normal sentence. The skill here is purely locating the subject when the sentence hides it after the verb instead of before.
Key terms
- Inverted sentence
- A sentence where the verb appears before its subject instead of after it.
- Expletive 'there'
- The word 'there' used only to start a sentence, never the subject itself.
- Compound subject
- Two or more nouns joined by 'and' or 'or' that together act as the subject.
- Unwinding
- Mentally reordering an inverted sentence into normal subject-verb order to check agreement.
Watch it explained
- How it worksHow does an inverted sentence put the real subject after the verb, and how do you flip it back?
- Common mistakeWhy isn't the word 'there' the subject of 'There are four moons visible tonight'?
- Worked exampleWalk me through choosing 'There is' or 'There are' for 'a hammer and two wrenches in the drawer'.
- Going furtherWhat happens to agreement when a sentence opens with a phrase like 'Among the ruins stands'?
Check yourself
End of topic.