'is' or 'are' shoud be used for this sentence:

titik

My son has written: There are a book and a pen on the table.  The teacher marked it wrong and corrected to is.

Please help and advise.

pumbaa

It's more common to use "is" in modern English as "is' refers to the immediate subject "a book".

http://education.atnext.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Article.View&articleID=6607970&issueID=20061211

Unclejt

See 古 德 明「 征 服 英 語 」

leschelems

Pedagogical grammar (teaching grammar) follows a traditional rule which counts total quantity followed the verb.  Therefore teachers usually suggest "are" in the given sentence.  However, linguistics surveys show that, nowadays, native speakers of English tend to apply proximity principle that they only consdier the singularity/plurality of the noun immediately followed the verb.  In other words, English natives like to use "is" in the given sentence.

Neither is wrong.  It is really interesting to see a teacher apply proximity principle instead of pedagogical grammar.  Is he graduated from overseas university?

titik 寫道:
My son has written: There are a book and a pen on the table.  The teacher marked it wrong and corrected to is.

Please help and advise.

titik

Many thanks to BK moms for your explanations.

My son is only a primary one student.  Do you have any idea which grammatical principle that most local school would follow?

leschelems

Normally, I play safe to apply pedagogical grammar in school assignments with a reminder to my kid on the existence of another possibility.   

titik 寫道:
Many thanks to BK moms for your explanations.

My son is only a primary one student.  Do you have any idea which grammatical principle that most local school would follow?