Search results for 'tag:Abstract nouns tag:Nouns' matching tags 'Abstract nouns' and 'Nouns'

Re: Is "truth" abstract noun or not? why?

Cool Breeze — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 11:09:49 GMT

Welcome to EF, mariappan

Truth is always an abstrcat noun because you can't put it on the scales and weigh it. It may occasionally be countable, which has nothing to do with being abstract. I may be wrong but I think it's the article (the) that you are concerned with? The article is used in the phrase to tell/speak the truth because normally there is only one truth. It's an idiom, one could say.

Re: How much abstract an abstract noun is?

Cool Breeze — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 07:38:47 GMT

Clive
hi,what is use an abstract noun in a sentence
Please tell me an abstract noun. Then I can help you to use it in a sentence.

Hi Clive

I haven't read all the posts in this thread and thus I don't really know what this is all about. "Abstract noun" is a term commonly used in grammar books on this side of the Atlantic. It is used to refer to uncountable nouns that have no physical dimensions and cannot be weighed: courage, happiness, absent-mindedness.

Re: How much abstract an abstract noun is?

Clive — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 04:20:04 GMT

Hi,
hi,what is use an abstract noun in a sentence
Please tell me an abstract noun. Then I can help you to use it in a sentence.

Clive

Re: Use of a plural

CalifJim — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 00:27:08 GMT

Anonymous
a plural version of a noun that could be either countable or uncountable.

There's no such thing as an uncountable noun in the plural. Plurality is one of the marks of countability. Once the noun is in the plural you know you are dealing with a countable noun.

Anonymous
that a person desires to use it is a good enough reason to use it or them?

Not just desire. Very accomplished writers with a fine ear for the language are able to gauge when it is useful to present an apparent uncountable in the plural -- especially when it's a matter of abstract nouns. The majority of us merely competent writers don't typically invent such novel turns of phrase.

Re: Article for History

New2grammar — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 20:31:51 GMT

Musicgold
I do know that âhistoryâ alone takes an article,

I agree with Avangi's interpretation. Just my two cents. Your above statement is not always correct. History can be an abstract noun for example

This is the first time in history the province is hit by such a strong earthquake. (No article)

In the history of our company, we have never laid off a single employee but today, unfortunately, we have to downsize to get through the recession. (need a definite article)

Re: creams and detergents

Goodman — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 16:19:09 GMT

Mr. Miclawer,

I wasnât going to expand this pluralization discussion on âcreamsâ and âwinesâ.
But it really bothered the heck out of me for two reasons.
1) I really wanted to find out if I was really blowing hot air on this subject
because of my misunderstanding of this topic, and 2) if there is another side of the usage
I am not aware of.
This is perhaps not relevant to the discussion but to establish my point, I think it needs
to be said. Mrs. Milton whom I learned English from was an excellent English teacher who
also had taught for 5 years at the Beijing University, which is a top University in China, by
invitation of the Government. Many of her students had landed positions working for the
Chinese Government and the U.N. as translators and interpreters. I was very blessed to be
among her students. Most of my English foundation was learned from her. And I was really
surprised to see your examples pluralizing âcreamâ and âwineâ. By your earlier examples, which I
compared with the information found on the WEB, I must ask this question. Am I to understand
that itâs completely grammatical to say in a restaurant âmay I have 2 waters and soups?â. I know
we hear that all the time but if we are discussing the whether a particular usage is grammatically
correct, running into this type of scenario is inevitable. Here are some âsupportsâ you had
asked for which may not may not be validated to your satisfaction. No doubt, you are the
English authority and perhaps possess âsuperiorityâ over many frequented this forum and I donât
mean to sound like challenging your examples, let alone to waste anymore of your time.
Nonetheless, as a serious learner, Iâd owe the real answers to myself and the learners if I just
accepted your answers as given. I may be wrong with my search result and you are correct.
And If so, here is my âadvanced apologyâ.

Nouns only countable nouns can be either singular or plural. ... He had some ice cream on
his face. He had an ice cream. mass. countable ...
www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/dick/tta/wc/nouns.htm - 21k - Cached - Similar pages

http://ajaja.paradoxinc.org/Basic/Grammar/CountAndNoncount.ht

Liquids: beer, milk, coffee, blood, cream, juice, honey, gasoline, oil, shampoo, soup, tea, water, wine.

Solids and semi-solids: Bread, butter, cheese, ice, ice cream, lettuce, toast, meat, beef, chicken, fish, ham, lamb, pork, chalk, 
copper, cotton, glass, gold, iron, , soap, tin, toothpaste, wood, wool,

http://leo.stcloudstate.edu/grammar/countnon.html

A Revision of the RulesThe exceptions require that the rule for pluralizing be revised: count nouns and nouns used 
in a count sense can be pluralized; noncount nouns and nouns used in a noncount sense cannot.

	Pluralizes with -s	Does not Pluralize
Count Noun	X
Count Use	X
Noncount Noun		X
Noncount Use		X

http://au.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080425090142AAom2ui

Answers (4)

If coffee is an uncountable noun, cream certainly is by common sense. Thus the rule applies.

Â· Answerer 1

Many nouns can be used as countables or uncountables. It depends on whether you are thinking of a substance or
a single serving or object made of the substance. So:

Beer is fattening (uncountable - the substance)
Don't drink more than three beers a day. (Countable - servings)

I love chocolate (uncountable - the substance)
Get me a box of chocolates (countable - individual pieces)

A vase made of blown glass (uncountable - the substance)
A glass of wine (A single piece / artifact)

Coffee gives me indigestion (the substance - uncountable)
I need at least three coffees to wake up on a morning (countable - individual servings)

2 months ago

http://www3.law.cuny.edu/wc/students/multilingual/articles.html

Uncountable nouns often refer to drinks and food, other general substances, or concepts (meat, tea, steel, information, justice):

Examples of Uncountable Nouns in English:

Food and Drink: bacon, beef, beer, bread, butter, cabbage, candy, cauliflower, chicken, chocolate, coffee, corn,
cream, fish, fruit, juice, lettuce, meat, milk, oil, pasta, rice, salt, spinach, sugar, tea, water, whiskey, wine, yogurt.
General Substances: air,cement, clay, coal, copper, dirt, dust, foam, gasoline, gold, ice, leather, paper, petroleum,
plastic, rain, rubber, silver, soap, steel, wood, wool.
Abstract nouns: abandonment, access, adultery, advice, alimony, anger, anguish, arson, authentication, beauty, capacity,
conduct, confidence, courage, deprivation, desperation, discretion, employment, empowerment, evidence, extortion, fortune,
fun, happiness, health, honesty, housing, information, insurance, intelligence, intent, knowledge, land, love, malice, negligence,
poverty, privacy, real estate, sadness, satisfaction, strength, truth, wealth.
Others: biology, clothing, darkness, equipment, furniture, gossip, homework, jewelry, luggage, machinery, mail, money, music,
news, poetry, pollution, research, scenery, traffic, transportation, violence, weather, weight, work.

Some uncountable nouns (except for concepts) can be turned into countable nouns by preposing a phrase to them
(two bottles of wine, a bar of soap, a piece of information, an act of violence, a burst of anger, a piece of evidence).

e.g. The defendant's lawyer is sure the judge will accept new evidence in this case.

vs. The defendant's lawyer is sure the judge will accept three new pieces of evidence in this case.

Some uncountable nouns can be used in the plural, but their meaning changes:

experience / experiences: e.g., He had to rely on experience / I lived unforgettable experiences

Re: marriage or marriages

New2grammar — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 00:12:08 GMT

Generic? That's an interesting choice of word for a word. I've always used it for drugs.

In the field of grammar, abstract nouns (such as beauty, democracy, love -some of these are countable as well) are categorized under 'uncountable' or 'mass noun'. Maybe I've forgotten what I've learned. I'll look for the thread. Thanks Avangi for clarifying this.

Re: possessive

Mr Wordy — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 19:16:49 GMT

Are you asking about forming a possessive by the addition of apostrope-s? If so, then here are some thoughts. I just wrote this stuff off the top of my head, so it's not meant to be any sort of definitive analysis.

There is no problem with making possessives from inanimate nouns. For example: the Earth's atmosphere; the computer's memory. However, as a very rough rule of thumb, it seems that nouns that refer to concrete objects are more likely to be made into possessives in this way, and nouns that refer to abstract concepts are less likely. For example, fright's, completeness's, congratulation's and disappearance's, while all theoretically possible I suppose, are unlikely. There is no hard-and-fast rule though. For example, hunger's pangs, jealousy's rage and Christianity's origins are all perfectly acceptable expressions that include the possessive form of an abstract noun. And there is one special expression that takes apostrophe-s words that would otherwise be unusual: for 's sake (expletive in this case not deleted!). For example, while comprehensibility's generally seems very unlikely, you could say for comprehensibility's sake. There may be other special cases that don't immediately come to mind.

When the apostrophe-s possessive of a noun seems unwieldy, a possessive can be formed with "of"; for example, the consequences of his disappearance rather than his disappearance's consequences.

I don't really understand what you mean by "Roman language". Perhaps you mean "Romance language" (i.e. a language derived from Latin)? I guess it's true that many longer abstract English nouns ultimately derive from Latin, and these are the ones that are, as a rough rule of thumb, less likely to have apostrophe-s forms. But there is no rule that says a word of a particular origin should or shouldn't form a possessive.

Re: "Impurities"

Goodman — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 19:01:46 GMT

Hi Saadi,

When we use âit isâ in the context such as yours, it is nearly impossible to come up with an explanation which may fit all the usages.

It is cold and dark outside! â What is âitâ ? one may ask. It â is an abstract pronoun which could be either plural or singular in this type of context, thatâs how it appears to me anyway.

Re: MM's 10-letter word

Grammar Geek — Sat, 31 May 2008 17:49:39 GMT

It's not actually in my active vocabulary, but the concept was. My husband gave me a book of mangled song lyrics with cartoon pictures to match. I always did hear "There's a bad moon on the rise" as "There's a bathroom on the right." (I guess the living room was on the left? But then, if you consider that the line about the bustle in your hedgerow is correct, who knows what these crazy rock-n-rollers are up to?)

Anyway, I knew I had heard it, so I just had to look it up to remember the correct word. (And saying it was related to Spoonerisms was a big clue.)

Okay, this one is for Tanit.

14 letters. 6 syllabiles. Abstract noun.

Search results for 'tag:Abstract nouns tag:Nouns' matching tags 'Abstract nouns' and 'Nouns'

Re: Is "truth" abstract noun or not? why?

Re: How much abstract an abstract noun is?

Re: How much abstract an abstract noun is?

Re: Use of a plural

Re: Article for History

Re: creams and detergents

Mr. Miclawer,

Nouns only countable nouns can be either singular or plural. ... He had some ice cream on his face. He had an ice cream. mass. countable ...www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/dick/tta/wc/nouns.htm - 21k - Cached - Similar pages

http://au.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080425090142AAom2ui

Answers (4)

Re: marriage or marriages

Re: possessive

Re: "Impurities"

Re: MM's 10-letter word

Nouns only countable nouns can be either singular or plural. ... He had some ice cream on
his face. He had an ice cream. mass. countable ...
www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/dick/tta/wc/nouns.htm - 21k - Cached - Similar pages