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I learned my English grammar pre-CGEL and recently learned that there is regarded as a pronoun and as the subject of the verb in constructions like the following, where the verb agrees in number with the noun that follows it:

There remain traces of a canal system in the jungle.

There remains only the foundation of a grain silo on the long-deserted farmstead.

There are twelve things in a dozen.

There's twelve things in a dozen.

*There is twelve things in a dozen.

Why does the contracted form "There's" admit a singular verb with a plural noun whereas the uncontracted form "there is" does not? Why does coalescing "there" with the verb "is" allow the number to disagree?

TimR
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  • Please comment on the downvote so at least I can understand the shortcoming of the question and possibly remedy it. – TimR Mar 10 '24 at 14:40
  • I am the down vote and have also voted to close. This question is asking about the grammar of a single language (i.e. English) rather a linguistic question so is, in my view, off-topic, but would be better suited on the English or ELL sites. If reframed more in terms of how to describe this behaviour within a linguistic framework it can probably be made on topic though – Tristan Mar 10 '24 at 15:53
  • @Tristan Thank you for the clarification. I'm not a frequent visitor here and didn't realize that questions related to a specific language were off-topic. I'd seen many that specifically reference English. Should I delete the question? – TimR Mar 10 '24 at 16:05
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    no need to delete just on my opinion! If enough people agree with me the question will be closed or migrated, but it's possible people will disagree with my interpretatin – Tristan Mar 10 '24 at 16:29

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