more than one

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

Hi everybody,

  1. As there is more than one person involved, more care has to be taken.
  2. As there are more than one person involved, more care has to be taken.
    Which one of the two sentence is right?
    Are both of them right?
    Please comment.
    Thanks,
    Er.S.M.M.Hanifa
2

Hi,

‘There are’ would require a plural to follow - there are more than 6 people involved, for example.

Alan

3

I agree with you, Mr. Alan.
Is “more than one person” plural or singular?
Please confirm.
Thanks,
Er.S.M.M.Hanifa

4

Hi,

Yes, ‘more than one person’ means just that - at least two and thus the ‘idea’ is plural but the subject in your sentence is ‘person’ and that is singular.

Alan

5

Mr. Alan, sir,

  1. As there is more than one person involved, more care has to be taken.
  2. As there are more than one person involved, more care has to be taken.
    I am a little confused.
    Could you explain to me how you derive that the subject in my above sentences
    is ‘person’ and that is singular?
    Thanks,
    Er.S.M.M.Hanifa
6

Hi,

‘There is’ looks forward to a singular noun and that singular noun is ‘one person’. ‘There is more than one person who is involved’

Alan

7

With respect to the 1st sentence, I find your logic is OK.
What about for my second sentence?
Do you consider my second sentence is wrong grammatically?
Please clear my doubt.
Thanks a lot,
Er.S.M.M.Hanifa

8

Hi,

I don’t honestly want to say any more about this. Logic doesn’t really come into play here. ‘Person’ is singular and will always be singular. 'Persons’ is plural and will always be so.

Alan

9

Hanifa,

You may have been confused by Alan’s last example “persons” compared to “people” in his earlier example. Anyway, the word “people” is treated as a plural noun and as already explained, “[more than one] person” is treated as singular. Logically then, “there is … one person” / “there are … two people”. Your second sentence did not follow this logic by saying “there are … one person”.

I don’t know if that confuses you more… I hope not.

10

Dear Mr. Alan & Mr. Mxreader,
Thanks a lot for all your explanations,
Er.S.M.M.Hanifa