Poll: There ____ tons of evidence to support this view

houston

The correct response is "is" not "are". "Evidence" is the noun not "tons".

Jasur

hi I want to study abroad. can you help me

Helbert

houston is right. We say "There is lots of sugar in this" not "There ARE lots of sugar in this" ; )

mohamed

I agree with the first comments. the veb has to be is it because evidence the main object of the sentece not tons

Vidableek@

Well, it still sounds correct to use are, because "tons" seems like the noun. Remove "of evidence" from the sentence and you see why it seems right to use "are". Could it be that the noun in this sentence is "tons of evidence", which would therefore make it plural and make "are" the correct word?

Lucero

Are is teh correct answer because the noun is in plural "tons"

crclee

If we change the sentence to the following which answer is correct?

There is / are a great deal of evidence to support this view.

I would think everyone would agree that "is" is the correct choice. This should prove that "tons of" is functioning as a modifier and is, therefore, not the object and can safely be ignored when choosing the correct verb.

rompey

"Evidence" is uncountable, isn't it?

rompey

Isn't "evidence" uncountable?

Eshiet

I think 'is' should be used for singular, while 'are' for plural as in this case.

Mel

Yes, but many native speakers use the singular in cases like this.

Tony

Here, the preposition "of" is attached to the end of the noun "tons," meaning that you could also say, "There is evidence - of which there are tons - to support..." and also "There is evidence - of which there is a ton - to support..." Each is correct because the noun just has to match the verb within the sentence and prepositional phrase, respectively. Because the noun in the sentence is evidence, the verb is "is."