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What is the subject in the following sentence and is the verb agreement correct?

"There is an even number of rules."

Araucaria - Him
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Marcia
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    In the construction There is an X, the entirety of X is a noun phrase (NP) - in your example, *an even number of rules. If you're specifically focused on the (singular) element number* within that NP, you can get away with using the singular verb form *is* in your exact context, but this would be far less likely with, for example, An even number of people were* invited to the party.* – FumbleFingers Oct 02 '17 at 14:07
  • The subject is "there". The verb tense is wrong -- it should be plural "are" to match the noun "rules" (cf. "There are a number of rules to be observed"). But with existential "there", and reduced "is", many speakers ignore the rule and always use the singular: "There's an even number of rules". – BillJ Oct 02 '17 at 17:55
  • Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat. –  Oct 02 '17 at 21:52
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    @EdwinAshworth The problem is though that you cannot helpfully redirect readers to a question that will necessarily help them, if it only addresses half the question. And the linked to question is closed anyway. [There's also the fact that, as FF pointed out, this question is not quite the same as the linked-to one in terms of agreement, because as he says, is will potentially work here.] – Araucaria - Him Oct 02 '17 at 22:19
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    There is also What is the difference between these two almost identical sentences?. ELU needs to be as concise as possible (no bloat) to really be of use to as many as possible. / Note also that FF and BillJ disagree, and that neither adds a source endorsing what they say. – Edwin Ashworth Oct 02 '17 at 23:05

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