A doubt!

   Share on Facebook  
Anonymous  #396751  Wed, 25 Jul 07 11:43 PM
Hi! 

Consider this sentence.

He has a very good knowledge.

What is the function of the aricle 'a' in the sentence?
( I know that the articles can function as adjectives but never as adverbs..Well, the case here is different, isn't it?....Can an indefinite article modify an uncountable noun? ) 

I am quite confused!

Please help me out!!                 


Thanks for your time..               
  
Clive  #396757  Thu, 26 Jul 07 12:08 AM

Hi,

Consider this sentence.

He has a very good knowledge.

What is the function of the aritcle 'a' in the sentence?
( I know that the articles can function as adjectives but never as adverbs..Well, the case here is different, isn't it?....Can an indefinite article modify an uncountable noun? ) 

Article use can be difficult to learn, and to explain, as you perhaps are aware. Let me offer a few comments.

We don't say 'He has a knowledge'

We do say 'He has a knowledge of French, but he does not have a knowledge of Russian or a knowledge of Chinese.' In this context, we are thinking of and speaking of several kinds of knowledge.

We don't do this with the plural , eg we don't say He has knowledges of  Spanish and Japanese.

We wouldn't normally say the sentence you are offering as an example, because it does not specify a type of knowledge. However, we could readily say He has a very good knowledge of English.

Best wishes, Clive

  
Top 10 Contributor
Joined on Thu, Oct 28 2004
Canada
Veteran Member (23,116)
ModeratorTeachers
El tango argentino es un pensamiento triste que se puede bailar (The tango argentino is a sad thought which can be danced) Enrique Santos Discépolo
AddThis Feed Button RSS Feed: ESL General English Grammar Questions
© 2008 MediaCET Ltd.
Terms and Conditions & Terms of Service