'Is' and 'Are'

  1. When using 'is' and 'are' with nouns, we need to look at the noun to decide which form to use.  If the noun is singular, use 'is'. If it is plural or there is more than one noun, use 'are':
    1. The cat is eating all his food
    2. The cat and the dog are eating all their food
  2. Some nouns have an irregular plural, which means that the plural is not formed by adding '-s' or '-es' to the singular form. With these nouns we always use 'are'. The most used irregular plurals are 'people', 'men', 'women', 'children', 'feet', 'teeth', 'dice', 'mice':
    1. People are very friendly in this town
    2. My feet are wet!
  3. With collective nouns, which are nouns that refer to a group of people or things that are treated as a single entity, we generally use 'is':
    1. My team is winning
    2. The couple is moving to California
  4. With uncountable nouns, which refer to things that can’t be counted, we always use 'is':
    1. The water is too hot!
    2. His money is in the bank
  5. Collecting phrases like 'a number of', 'a pair of' or 'a group of' can take 'is' or 'are'. Generally speaking, we use 'is' with 'a pair of' and 'a group of', and 'are' with 'a number of':
    1. A good pair of shoes is a luxury in some parts of the world (correct)
    2. A good pair of shoes are a luxury in some parts of the world (incorrect)
    3. That group of students is studying for the exam (correct)
    4. That group of students are studying for the exam (incorrect)
    5. A number of people are concerned about the lack of progress (correct)
    6. A number of people is concerned about the lack of progress (incorrect)
  6. When choosing between 'there is' and 'there are', we have to look at what comes after it:
    1. There is milk in the fridge ('milk' is an uncountable noun and requires 'is')
    2. There are many houses for sale on this street ('houses' is plural and requires 'are')