Re: A sequel to an article before a gerund question

Avangi — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 23:38:48 GMT

<<I think making instances (that is "separate occurances") is what has been done for these sentences I copied>>

I agree.

This is not official, but to me, where the object of "playing" is uncountable, then so is "playing." "I spent the afternoon playing checkers."

Where the object is countable, then so is "playing." This is the fifth time he has played that damned record. I can't possibly sit through a sixth playing.

a playing of cards for money in an outhouse, would be an occurance, or an incidence of playing.

I find playing Chopin's nocturns on the piano to be very relaxing. Uncountable. On each playing of the fifth nocturn, I improve very slightly. Countable.

While Chopin's nocturns are clearly countable, the playing of them in general is not. It's like eating potato chips. The chips are countable but the eating of them in general is not. But you could refer to a particular occasion on which you ate too many as an excessive eating of potato chips. This would be opposed to "the excessive eating of potato chips," which would be habitual.

At universities where the dining room cannot accomodate the entire student body, they sometimes have what is called "a second sitting."

Best wishes, - A.

Re: A sequel to an article before a gerund question

Anonymous — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 22:25:48 GMT

Hi,

I think I have seen more than enough cases where what people call a verbal noun has the indefinite article 'a' in front of it and at the very least, the sheer number (should it be - sheer numbrs??) of it warrants some good explanations from experts in this forum. I think I can laid out a similar framework of argument for a quoted content too.

These days, students from where I use to live don't study hard. A lot of people seem to feel "sit in your chair and do nothing for eight hours" should be replaced with a quality "sit-in-your-chair-and-do-some-work hours." -- I think I made into a type. I was trying to make it an instance of it though. Do you think all the hyphens in quote in allowed? I think Mr. M said we should use either a hyphen or quotation marks, but usually not both.

I must say, the indefinite article "a" doesn't seem to go well with "hours" in the quotes but see nothing wrong with it, IMO.

A sequel to an article before a gerund question

Anonymous — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 08:08:37 GMT

Hi,

Can you please tell me why a person use an indefinite article before a gerund/verbal noun?

I think here people are making an instance of all the gerund/verbal noun "a playing" and not making types of it. Like I have said in the thread named "indefinite article before a gerund," I think native speakers have choices when confronted with the dilemma like this (if we could call it a dilemma); they can make an instance of the gerund/verbal noun or types of it. I think making instances (that is 'separate occurances") is what has been done for these sentences I copied (pasted??) from a Google Book search.

The New Guide to Recorded Music: international edition - 80 페이지

저자: Irving Kolodin - 1950 - 524 페이지

German knowledge and English technical skill have produced, in the Clemens Krauss
performance, a playing of this work superlative in its richness of sound ...

짧은 발췌문 보기 - 도서 정보 - 내 서재에 추가하기 - 기타 출판본 더보기

Judicial and Statutory Definitions of Words and Phrases

저자: West Publishing Company - 1904 - 7839 페이지

5120 페이지

"Outhouse," as used In a statute prohibiting a playing of cards for money in an
outhouse where people resort does not mean that it should be In the same ...

미리보기가 없습니다. - 도서 정보 - 내 서재에 추가하기 - 기타 출판본 더보기

Works of Music: An Essay in Ontology - 35 페이지

저자: Julian Dodd - 2007 - 286 페이지

For someone to perform W, she must intend to do so, and a playing of W is a
reproduction of sounds that were produced with that intention; so it follows ...

일부보기 - 도서 정보 - 내 서재에 추가하기 - 기타 출판본 더보기

A Celebration of John F. Nash Jr.: Duke Mathematical Journal - 12 페이지

저자: Harold W. Kuhn, John F. Nash, Louis Nirenberg, Peter Sarnak, Morris Weisfeld - 1996 - 494 페이지

... the probability that a particular n-tuple of pure strategies will be employed
in a playing of the game should be the product of the probabilities ...

일부보기 - 도서 정보 - 내 서재에 추가하기

America's Musical Life: A History

저자: Richard Crawford - 2001 - 976 페이지

284 페이지

... and a playing of The Star-Spangled Banner.2* Mixed with Beethoven symphonies,
Strauss waltzes, and the Midsummer Nights Dream overture, a novelty like ...

미리보기가 없습니다. - 도서 정보 - 내 서재에 추가하기 - 기타 출판본 더보기

Information please almanac - 36 페이지

저자: Dan Golenpaul, John Kieran, Dan Golenpaul Associates - 1947

... might be associated with a playing of this violin and piano sonata, but their
qualities would be hard to surpass. The reproduction is outstandingly good ...

짧은 발췌문 보기 - 도서 정보 - 내 서재에 추가하기 - 기타 출판본 더보기

The Collected Writings of Michael Snow: the Michael Snow project - 285 페이지

저자: Michael Snow, Louise Dompierre - 1994 - 295 페이지

After seeing the footage, I decided to tape separately a playing of the radio,
making a kind of Doppler effect by turning the volume down and up and ...

일부보기 - 도서 정보 - 내 서재에 추가하기

A Portuguese-English dictionary - 613 페이지

저자: James Lumpkin Taylor, Priscilla Clark Martin - 1963 - 655 페이지

a playing of musical instruments; a musical rendition; a toccata. toca-viola (m.)
= TANGE-VIOLA. tocha (/.) large ornamental candle; torch, flambeau; ...

일부보기 - 도서 정보 - 내 서재에 추가하기 - 기타 출판본 더보기

A Dictionary of the Hawaiian Language: To which is Appended an English ... - 495 페이지

저자: Lorrin Andrews - 1865 - 559 페이지

A playing of cards; gambling ; the name of a game. 2. A bag or bundle tied up
for carrying. -KAU-po-Hi-wi, s. Pu, gun, kau, to place, ...

전체보기 - 도서 정보 - 내 서재에 추가하기 - 기타 출판본 더보기

The Phenomenology of Spirit Reader: Critical and Interpretive Essays - 32 페이지

저자: Jon Bartley Stewart, Jon Stewart - 1998 - 507 페이지

... excluding the latter from the true in its actuality: "Thus the life of God
and divine knowing may indeed be spoken of as a playing of love with itself; ...

일부보기 - 도서 정보 - 내 서재에 추가하기 - 기타 출판본 더보기

Google 도서검색 도움말 | 고급 도서검색

Google 도서검색 정보 - 발행인을 위한 정보 - Google 홈

ESL General English Grammar Questions

Re: A sequel to an article before a gerund question

Re: A sequel to an article before a gerund question

A sequel to an article before a gerund question