There has/ there have

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There has/ there have
Message from mohammad51 posted on 18-01-2018 at 23:49:31 (D | E | F)
Hello
Please, if any one could explain this?
fill by the correct tense of the verb between brackets
This year there ...... a lot of traffic accidents in this country. (to be)

I chose has been and the answer goes correct online.
I know that traffic is uncountable noun which is treated as a singular noun( verb - subject agreement) and even if it is followed by the word- noun (accidents) which it is plural countable noun, but either we depend on the first noun which comes after the form ( there has been ) or both words are referred to one thing to deal with as a unit ..... Is there another explaining?
Here are more examples:
There has been a change of plans.
There has been a lot of speculation over who the new minister will be.
There was a lot of tension in the air.
There is some milk on her whiskers.
There has been a fight.
There hasn’t been much noise.

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Edited by lucile83 on 19-01-2018 08:57

Re: There has/ there have from tanin5, posted on 19-01-2018 at 01:48:55 (D | E)
Hello everybody. The answer should be: have been, because we are talking about ( accidents) and traffic is a modifier for that. Like: car accidents, road accidents. In this way even the first noun comes in singular form( rarely can be plural) . For example we say car accidents, not cars accidents.
I hope it helps, regards

Re: There has/ there have from mohammad51, posted on 19-01-2018 at 06:17:33 (D | E)
Hello
Thank you mah
What is this then?
If this is wrong, we never can depend on the internet exercises .....This is the link please try it:
Fill in the sentences with the simple past or the present perfect
Link

Re: There has/ there have from lucile83, posted on 19-01-2018 at 09:11:14 (D | E)
Hello,
This year there have been a lot of traffic accidents in this country. ...is the only possible option.
May I advise you to take the tests on this site? They are reliable Link

Re: There has/ there have from gerondif, posted on 19-01-2018 at 10:21:21 (D | E)
Hello,
There is some milk on her whiskers.(the "mustache" of a cat or dog)

When there is a plural noun after there is , then the plural should be used:
There were seven people killed. There have been a lot of car-accidents this year.

But when there is first a singular noun and then a plural one, sometimes, there is will take the singular:
There was one woman and three men injured.

Maybe the chap that made your test got that confused, or took a singular part of a compound-noun (car-accidents) as an object.

Re: There has/ there have from bgcervantes, posted on 24-01-2018 at 06:52:46 (D | E)
Hello,
I see "traffic" in this sentence as an adjective which is modifying the noun "accidents".
You can think: There are a lot of accidents.
Then, you can see how they are talking about the accidents. "Traffic" is simply saying what kind of accidents.
I hope this helps.

This is the first time I have come to the forums.
I never knew how to find them.

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Edited by lucile83 on 24-01-2018 07:23

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