“There is a lot of” vs “There are a lot of”

В английском языке есть случай, в котором официальная грамматика разводит руками. Этот случай – выбор между there is a lot of [people] и there are a lot of [people]. 

"There is a lot of" and "There are a lot of" are both legitimate terms, depending on whether the noun is countable or not.

For example:

• There are a lot of cars. ("cars" is countable)

• There is a lot of sugar. ("sugar" is not countable)

The ambiguity here comes from “a lot of” appearing to be a noun phrase when it’s actually not used in the same way. When people say “are a lot”, this is used not as a grouping noun but like a quantifying adjective, like “many”. While a singular verb is appropriate with nouns that define the plural into a singular group, “a lot of” refers to a quantity rather than a grouped unit – modifying the noun as “many” would. So the verb agrees with the noun that “a lot of” qualifies, rather than “a lot”. We can therefore have either “are a lot of” or “is a lot of” depending on our interpretation of this sentence. Mostly, we will use “There are a lot of” with countable nouns, when we discuss plurals, and “There is a lot of” with uncountable nouns, but there is of course flexibility here – in many cases it may be down to the individual’s interpretation of the sentence.

• 
  

• There are a lot of apples.
  

There is a lot of meat.

It’s deceptive, but a good example of how exceptions to some of the simple rules of English can work – because words can be used for functions that are not what they immediately appear to be.