There is /
there are
In your example of there is, Tanya, it is as if the
items are being counted separately:
There’s a chair and there’s a table in the room SO
there’s achair and table in the room.
But note:
There are three chairs and a table in the room.
There’s a table and three chairs in the room.
The general rule is that the verb form matches the
item(s) that it is adjacent to:
Either the accused or the witnesses were lying. They
couldn’t both be telling the truth.
Either the witnesses or the accused was lying. They
couldn’t both be telling the truth.
Note that we do not usually begin sentences in English
with an indefinite noun phrase. We could say:
A knife and (a) fork were on the table.
But we usually don’t. If we want to say that something
exists, we usually start the sentence with the ‘empty’ grammatical word there
and say:
There’s a knife and (a) fork on the table
Subject-verb
agreement with ‘quantity’ determiners
The quantity determiners any, either, neither and none
are sometimes used with a singular verb and sometimes used with a plural verb
when they function as the subject of the clause.
Although the singular verb may be formally correct, in
usage there is no strong preference for one or the other. So I think you may
feel free to choose whichever you think best, depending, perhaps, on how strong
you think the idea of plurality is.
Compare the following pairs and see which you prefer:
I invited four policemen to my wedding but none
waspresent.
I invited four policemen to my wedding but none
werepresent.
I have two sisters but neither of them is married.
I have two
sisters but neither of them are married.
I don’t
think either of them deserves a husband.
I don’t think
either of them deserve a husband.
I don’t
think any of the children is invited to the wedding reception.
I don’t
think any of the children are invited to the wedding reception.
