Select the most appropriate word to fill in the blank.There ________ a big park in front of our house.

Question

Prepp Team · Accepted Answer

Understanding Subject-Verb Agreement: Filling the Blank

Let's analyse the given sentence and options to find the most appropriate word for the blank:

The sentence is: "There ________ a big park in front of our house."

This sentence structure begins with "There" and is followed by a form of the verb 'to be', and then the actual subject. In these types of sentences, the verb must agree with the subject that comes *after* the verb.

Analyzing the Subject and Verb Agreement

The subject of the sentence is "a big park". Let's identify its grammatical number:

"a big park" refers to one park.
Therefore, the subject "a big park" is singular.

Since the subject is singular, the verb used in the blank must also be singular.

Evaluating the Options for Filling the Blank

Let's look at the provided options:

are
may be
is
were

Now, let's determine which option is a singular verb that fits the context, which seems to describe the current existence of the park:

are: This is a plural form of the verb 'to be' in the present tense. It is used with plural subjects (e.g., "There are many parks"). It does not agree with the singular subject "a big park". So, this option is incorrect for filling the blank.
may be: This combination indicates possibility. While grammatically structured correctly as a verb phrase, the sentence "There may be a big park..." suggests uncertainty about the park's existence. The original sentence structure usually implies a statement of fact about existence, making "may be" less appropriate than a simple 'is' or 'was'.
is: This is a singular form of the verb 'to be' in the present tense. It is used with singular subjects (e.g., "There is a cat"). It agrees with the singular subject "a big park". This fits the structure and likely meaning (describing a currently existing park). This option is appropriate for filling the blank.
were: This is a form of the verb 'to be' in the past tense. It is typically used with plural subjects (e.g., "There were many parks") or sometimes with singular subjects in specific conditional or subjunctive contexts which are not present here. It does not fit the singular subject in a simple descriptive sentence about current existence. So, this option is incorrect for filling the blank.

Based on the subject-verb agreement rule and the typical use of the "There is/are" structure to state existence, the singular verb 'is' is the most appropriate choice for the singular subject "a big park" when describing a present situation.

The completed sentence is: "There is a big park in front of our house."

Revision Table: Subject-Verb Agreement with "There"

Subject After Verb	Verb to Use (Present)	Example
Singular noun (e.g., a park, one book)	is	There is a car outside.
Plural noun (e.g., parks, many books)	are	There are cars outside.
Uncountable noun (e.g., water, information)	is	There is water in the bottle.

Additional Information: Understanding 'There is' and 'There are'

The phrase "There is" or "There are" is often used to indicate that something exists or is located in a particular place. This is sometimes called an existential construction.

Use "There is" before a singular noun or an uncountable noun.
Use "There are" before a plural noun.
In the past tense, you would use "There was" for singular/uncountable subjects and "There were" for plural subjects. For example, "There was a park here before" or "There were trees everywhere."
It's important to look at the noun that follows the verb to determine whether to use 'is' or 'are' (or 'was' or 'were').

In our question, the noun following the blank is "a big park", which is singular. Therefore, the singular verb form 'is' is needed.