1.1 Existential sentences

Like many other languages, English has a presentative construction that mainly serves to create end-focus. A subject that contains new information (normally expressed by an indefinite noun phrase) is given a position after the verb and the typical subject slot is filled by there. 2 The result is, for instance, There is a teacher in the classroom in preference to A teacher is in the classroom. Syntactically, there behaves like a subject, for instance occurring in postverbal position in a direct question (Is there...?). 1.2 Subject–verb concord There is general agreement that in the existential construction, the predicate verb (prototypically a form of be) shows concord with the notional (postponed) subject, at least in formal Standard English: (1) There is a book on the table (2) There are some books on the tabl