Booher's Rules of Business Grammar - Dianna Booher 2009

“There’s problems with that!”
Verbosity about verbs: The big blunders

EXPLETIVE DELETED

Rest easy. I’m not about to launch into obscene language here. An expletive is a word that has nothing grammatically to do with the rest of the sentence. You’ve heard of Phantom of the Opera, no doubt. Consider this issue Phantom of the Sentence: sentences with a fake subject sitting in the typical subject slot.

The most frequent expletives are sentence beginnings such as there is, there was, there were, there are, it is, or it was. Think of these beginning words (there, it) as fillers without meaning. “There were six people riding in our car.” The there is meaningless, a phantom subject. The real subject of the sentence is six people. (Six people were riding in our car.)

Another example: “It is a problem to suggest tax revolt.” It is a phantom subject, meaningless. It stands for the entire concept: “To suggest tax revolt is a problem.”

There’s no problem in using expletives—as I just did in this sentence—as long as you understand that those words aren’t the true subject of your sentence and select the right verbs to go with the real subject.

Incorrect:

There’s problems with retaining law firms over the Internet. (Problems is the subject of this sentence, so the sentence needs a plural verb.)

Correct:

There are problems with retaining law firms over the Internet.

Better:

Retaining law firms over the Internet presents problems.

Beginning a sentence with an expletive there or it gives the impression of timidly backing into the key idea. It’s better to express most thoughts with a stronger opening.

Weak:

There were whirling gizmos that attracted attention from every buyer.

Stronger:

Whirling gizmos attracted attention from every buyer.

Weak:

There were some who negotiated fares better than 70 percent off retail price.

Stronger:

Some negotiated fares better than 70 percent off retail price.

Weak:

It is a big disappointment to lose the game.

Stronger:

Losing the game is a big disappointment.

Memory tip

Consider a mother’s “there, there” to a crying baby. The words are comforting but meaningless. The same is true with expletives—they’re meaningless. Find the real subject, and select the verb accordingly.