there remain a number of

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

In reality, however, there remain a number of obstacles to foreigners seeking to invest in this sector.
I would like to know about “there” in the sentence above. Is it a noun? If so what does it mean? Does it mean a place? And why does the verb “remain” has single form?

2

I guess it is a dummy pronoun, used to state the existence of something, like in “there are two books on the table”. Usually this dummy “there” takes the “be” verb, but a few other verbs are also possible, such as “exist” and “remain”.

I’m not sure what you mean by “single form”. “remain” has a plural form to match “a number of obstacles” which pattern by convention takes a plural verb.

3

Well, thanks Dozy!
I got it. I think that what was confusing me is that the dummy “there” can take other verbs rather than “be”.

This is my mistake. These are exactly what I wanted to know.