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I'm aware of (multitudinous) related, similar questions concerning this, but I still feel tentative for the following example. I also referenced http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/oddness-when-you-start-a-sentence-with-there-is?page=1. Predicated on these, I'd guess that

"there are happiness and joy" is correct,
and "there is happiness and joy" is wrong.

Here, there is (I know why it's NOT there are here) a compound subject containing two nouns, thus the verb must be conjugated for a plural subject.
Yet Google Ngram contradicts this significantly? Why? I fear that I misconstrued something?

Community
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  • One: "Grammar Girl" doesn't have a clue. Don't rely on her. She is NOT a vetted grammar source. – F.E. Jun 17 '14 at 17:17
  • Grammar Girl said: When you're editing your work and find a sentence that starts with "there are" or "there is," see whether rewording it would make your work better. Often it does." -- Actually, a writer should often try the opposite: if a patch of prose seems off, one attempt can be to try to put in an existential construction ("there is/are"), especially when introducing new info into the discourse. – F.E. Jun 17 '14 at 17:20
  • To answer your question: Usually it is the context that determines the better choice, the context and the writer's intention. Many contexts would prefer "there is* happiness and joy (in the world today)", but a writer could probably think up a context where the "are" version would be preferable. – F.E. Jun 17 '14 at 17:22
  • First of all, in an existential construction, the grammatical subject is the dummy pronoun "there". So, a grammar source ought to at least be aware of that. If that grammar source doesn't at least know that, then run away from that "pedant". – F.E. Jun 17 '14 at 17:23
  • This post might be helpful for you: http://english.stackexchange.com/a/140863/57102 – F.E. Jun 17 '14 at 17:25
  • Basically, you've committed a logical fallacy. You've made an a priori assumption that the language works in a particular way or conforms to a particular invented logic. But in reality, the language doesn't conform to that logic. – Neil Coffey Jun 17 '14 at 17:35

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This is a reversed sentence. "Happiness and joy" is the subject, preceded by the verb, preceded by an adverb (there). To determine the proper form of the verb, place the sentence in subject / verb order, and it will become clear.

Either "is", or "are" may be correct, depending upon context, as "happiness and joy" may be a single compound subject, in which case "is" would be correct ("Happiness and joy is a common sign of a happy child"), or they may be two separate subjects, as in amalgamating two sentences "Happiness is to be found in the dictionary under the letter 'H', and joy is to be found under the letter 'J'." into "Happiness and joy are to be found under the letters H and J, respectively."

brasshat
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