The subject of this article isn’t important (though it is very interesting and worth reading). It is the grammar found within that fascinates me. The author ends the first and third paragraph with “there’s a few surprises.”
Is using is with plural nouns on the rise? Who can say, though ironically, the article linked above is about languages, albeit of the computer variety.
What is the future of are?
A very small part of me wants to message the author and verbally slap him upside the head for writing “there’s a few surprises,” but the larger intellectual part of me realizes this is probably natural and how languages change and evolve over time.
Fortunately, English doesn’t follow the same protocols as a programming language and machine code, and typing there’s or here’s incorrectly doesn’t cause a syntax or semantic error.
Using is with plural nouns is becoming commonplace nowadays. If you listen for it, you will hear its usage and might be surprised to find yourself saying the same thing.
Education
One might think, what are kids learning in school these days? And that is exactly my point. Social interaction causes this shift in word choice to take place.
During a lesson a teacher might emphasize the difference between “there are” and “there is” in grammar and homework while at the same time (without realizing it) use the phrase incorrectly during lectures and everyday conversations.
I’m sure I have done it while speaking and I know I have made my fair share of mistakes when writing. That is the main reason I write in this blog, because of my desire to improve.
Finding phrase like “there’s a few surprises” in another’s writing fascinates me though. Is the mistake not obvious? Or is it now accepted as correct?
The future
There is usually a divide between written language and spoken language and writing one style is insulated from the other. In this case however, I honestly wonder if the language is changing and moving toward a future without are.
So what is the future of are? With so many people writing in the style of how they speak and increasing the use of contractions even the use of is in a separate word is decreasing.
In the end, the masses may decide
Of course maybe our language won’t change and the rules of grammar will remain. Maybe the habits of the masses will swing in a different direction.
To be thought “correct” people will start using are all the time. And they’ll keep doing that until its usage ultimately morphs into something equally incorrect.
For example, 20 years ago it was normal to hear “you and me” used incorrectly. I wager so many people were corrected so many times that today, by default, most people say “you and I,” correctly or not.
Hopefully, you and I will be around long enough to see how this all works out. Languages are fascinating. I don’t know what the future holds, but I hope I notice when it happens.
Thanks for reading!
