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

Re: The Enron scandal was a financial scandal involving Enron

26TMNTJG2PG — Tue, 27 May 2008 04:24:15 GMT

This is a very interesting discussion. Allow me to present views:-
Question: I would have written, ''fraud which perpetrated throughout.. What do you say? No. [reason being fraud (an abstract noun) having become the doer of the action of perpetrating. Even if you personified it, there must still be an object after the verb perpetrated as 'perpetrate' is a transitive verb which takes an object.] But you could say 'which was perpetrated throughout . . . ' turning the original adjective phrase iuto an adjective clause. Though the change is grammatically correct, it is not advisable as the original version is symmetrical with the earlier part of the sentence - a series of revelations. How does an asymmetrical sentence look like? Refer to a blog post titled "Asymmetrical sentence".
Actually, I'm not sure if 'perpetrated' is meant to qualify 'fraud' or 'procedures'. If the latter, then say 'which were . . . ' This cannot be since an adjective/adjective phrase/adjective clause qualifies a noun or pronoun (antecedent) nearest to it. It is also not idiomatic to say procedures perpetrated. Can procedures be perpetrated?
Question: I couldn't understand the above bold part. Please help. Enron's collapse was due to its income and gains were from inter-company transactions (where such deals including revenue and profits could be easily manupulated or inflated). Please note that the reason/explanation/clarification conveyed by the words within brackets are not in the original text.
Best regards.

Re: Heart and Hearts

Avangi — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 13:38:49 GMT

To the extent that you can hold a heart in your hand, it differs from the mind and the soul (assuming that mind does not equal brain). So you wish to talk about "heart" in the abstract. The soul seems to be an intangible concept by definition. The mind means different things to philosophers, psychologists, and biologists.

If it's not too sensitive an issue, think about the "strategy" of "winning the hearts and minds of the Iraqui people." These are definitely abstract nouns. We're speaking of the heart and the mind of an individual person - one heart and one mind. I think that's a countable noun. If you "win over" three people, that's three hearts and three minds. It's still abstract.

The heart of the American people is singular, and very abstract, and surely has a different meaning than "winning the heart of my girlfriend." Is it uncountable? Personally, I don't think so. "One" is a number. It's possible to "win the heart of the American people."

Do you have a reference saying that abstract nouns are uncountable? I don't think "intangible" = "uncountable." Ideas are intangible. I came up with four new ideas today. I think that "abstract" and "concrete" are both members of the common noun classification. Asphalt and concrete are examples of uncountable nouns.

Regards, - A.

Re: evening (without preposition) / to start to doing

Hoa Thai — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 12:44:34 GMT

Hi,

I understand Espeland's question regarding the phrase 'of a hot day' that specifically restricts the meaning of Evening since there is only one evening in a day; thus, The must be provided such as "The Evening of a Day of Walking" in Les Miserables - by Victor Hugo.

In fact, I have seen quite a few passages using similar pattern (i.e., abstract noun with article a, an, and the starting a sentence). However, some titles of plays or movies and a few novels that I have read do drop the articles. Therefore, as CalifJim stated (if I read him right), to start a sentence, the article for an abstract noun is optional. In that case, what sounds good to readers' ears would count else words will be ignored.

Best Regards,
Hoa Thai

Re: Articles (a, an)

Yoong Liat — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 16:25:38 GMT

Hoa Thai wrote:
I was told that a or an should not be used to mark noncount nouns, sush as water, gold, etc.. That is simple until I encounter abstract nouns! For instance, give me an advice is incorrect since advice is an abstract noun. However, an online search shows that both give me advice and give me an advice are used by many people. Moreover, opinion is also an abstract noun; but many people would prefer give me an opinion over give me opinion. A satisfaction is another abstract noun that seems to violate the rule, but is often used (again, the count from online search data shows that). So does the rule have many exceptions? If so, how would an ESL learner like me be able to make the distinction? Please help. Thanks and Best Regards - Hoa Thai

give me an advice is incorrect. (advice is an uncountable noun)

give me an opinion is correct. (opinion is a countable noun.)

A satisfaction is incorrect. (satisfaction is an uncountable noun)

Articles (a, an)

Hoa Thai — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 16:08:24 GMT

I was told that a or an should not be used to mark noncount nouns, sush as water, gold, etc.. That is simple until I encounter abstract nouns! For instance, give me an advice is incorrect since advice is an abstract noun. However, an online search shows that both give me advice and give me an advice are used by many people. Moreover, opinion is also an abstract noun; but many people would prefer give me an opinion over give me opinion. A satisfaction is another abstract noun that seems to violate the rule, but is often used (again, the count from online search data shows that). So does the rule have many exceptions? If so, how would an ESL learner like me be able to make the distinction? Please help. Thanks and Best Regards - Hoa Thai

Re: Uncountable noun becoming countable?

Inchoateknowledge — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 08:07:50 GMT

Hello Believer,

Abstract nouns in the plural indicate an instance of the phenomena concerned:

Whoever planted the bomb showed a total disregard for the safety of the public.

I have experienced many injustices,

intensification of the phenomenon

Re: the cases of abstract nouns taking "thes"

Mister Micawber — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 12:09:27 GMT

You must be a young man, Aperisic-- you have a penchant for overreaction. You have made valuable contributions to many threads here, and I hope you will continue to do so.

Best regards,

MM

Re: genitive

Hela — Mon, 23 Jan 2006 10:14:12 GMT

Dear MrP and all the other teachers,

1) So what we call "the genitive case" is the apostrophe s and the relative whose, and the "possessive case" is any expression with of to express possession? Would you please give me sentences where we CANNOT use the 's but rather the of form?

2) Would you please tell me more about factors concerning abstract nouns and give me examples of temporal, locative, human activity (and others perhaps) genitives?

3) What about : "Treasure Islandâs author, Robert Louis Stevenson, was a Scotsman born in Edinburgh in 1850."

In which category would you put "titles of books"? Proper noun = concrete noun?

4) Are these wrong ?
The leach of the dog. / The car's door is open.

5) Would you please give me a sentence where a possessive is added to the names of planets: Earth's, Saturn's, Pluto's .....

6) How do you explain this use : The blue bike is my cousin's.

7) And why do we say:
a) The Song of Solomon and the Gospel of John are two of the most beautiful books of the Bible.
b) The computer's hard drive is broken.

Kind regards, Hela

Uncountable noun that is preceded by the "a"

victorycountry — Sun, 29 May 2005 11:48:03 GMT

Hi,

According to the "Longman Student Grammar" abstract nouns (such as education, kindness) can have countable and uncountable.

(e.g.)
1. What's your highest level of education? => uncountable
Although she was a girl she wanted an education => countable

In the countable case, can "an education" be any education such as primary school, middle school, or University?

According to some other contents on the indefinite article "a/an", the "a(n)" specifies types or particular instances of nouns.

(e.g)
1) a cruel kindness => what type of kindess? cruel => The "cruel" modifies the uncountable "kindness"
2) I have not seen you for a long time => How long haven't you seen him for? for a long time => "long" specifies or modifies the uncountable "time"
3) There was a poor attendence at the meeting => How big attendence did the meeting have?
"a poor attendence" => the "poor" modifies or specifies the uncountable "attendence"

In above cases, do you regard those uncountable nouns as countable nouns?

It's still a bit confusing me because of following examples.

a) Because our charity event had such high attendance, we have reached our donation goals.(One of TOEIC questions)
=> I thought it has to be "a high attendance" as in (3), it's "a poor attendance" not "poor attendance"

b) There is great support for their case.
(An article on "Liverpool" at BBC Newspaper)
=> Why it isn't "a great support" even though "support" is uncountable if above explanation is correct, isn't that have to be "a great support"?

Thanks in advance.