Learn English – Verb agreement of “heaps”/”lots”: uncountable nouns

grammatical-numberthere-isuncountable-nounsverb-agreement

I am a non-native English speaker and I recently started noticing that most people do not do the correct agreement of the verb with the noun when saying "there is"/"there was"/"here is". They say, for example,

There's two things in my pocket

instead of

There are two things in my pocket

as it should be. In discussing this issue in two distinct occasions I was asked whether the word "heaps" also should be preceded by the plural form of the verb (and the same for "lots"). I could not answer it, but I think the answer depends on whether the noun is countable or not. So, for example, I could say

There are heaps of glasses on the table.
There is a heap of glasses on the table.

but if the noun is uncountable, I am not so sure. I would think that the only correct option is to say

There is a lot/heap of water in the glass

but native speakers say

There is lots of water in the glass

Is the latter correct in terms of usage ("lots of"/"heaps of" + uncountable noun) and in terms of verb agreement ("there is" + "lots"/"heaps")?

Best Answer

You cannot determine the correct agreement of a noun phrase prefixed by

  • a lot of
  • lots of

Without looking at the noun they modify. They should not be understood as a prepositional phrase at all, or you will be misled into thinking the first is singular and the second plural. In fact, neither has any number whatsoever. Instead they work more like some works:

  • Some stuff is new.
  • Some people are ready.

See how some has no number? It is the same with a lot of and lots of.

You seem to have been misled into thinking that the prefix “lots of” changes the number. It cannot. The following are all correct:

  • Stuff is new.
  • Lots of stuff is new.
  • A lot of stuff is new.
  • People are ready.
  • Lots of people are ready.
  • A lot of people are ready.

See how that works? The prefix does not change number. You must not analyse this as a prepositional phrase, or you will get the wrong answer.

I do not know where they use “heaps of” instead of “lots of”. It sounds like slang to me.

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