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

Re: Two infinitives

CalifJim — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 20:56:17 GMT

Fandorin
I'm freaking out about articles.

It's not just you! A lot of learners have trouble with this aspect of English!

Here are a few principles you might keep in mind. (It is not a comprehensive list!)

As a first approximation or default strategy, use the with every concrete noun, because most of the time you know which person(s), which substance(s), which thing(s), or which place(s) you're referring to. Knowing which is what triggers the.

The sugar is on the table. The phone rang. The men poured the cement into the molds. The bus went from the post office to the bank. The boys walked on the sand. The children played on the lawn. The president signed the documents.

______

Don't use any article with unmodified abstract nouns, for example, faith, space, wisdom, happiness (in fact almost all the -ness words), etc. [Note that it makes no sense to say you know which wisdom or which happiness you're talking about, so the is not appropriate.]

Treat others with kindness. Love and hate are powerful emotions. Wisdom comes with time.

______

Don't use any article with proper nouns. John, Mr. Smith, etc. [This one is easy; you probably know it well already.]

______

For a single person or object, use a (or an) if you aren't saying which person or object you're talking about, but are just talking about any one of them, it doesn't matter which one. (You might not be saying which one because you don't know which one or because you don't want to tell which one or because it's not important which one.) Note that a/an can be paraphrased as a certain or any, it doesn't matter which.

I saw a man with a red raincoat today. (I saw a certain man, it doesn't matter which man, with a certain red raincoat, it doesn't matter which raincoat. This suggests that I've never seen this man before, nor this raincoat.)

Compare:

I saw the man with the red raincoat today. (I saw that man whom we already know about with that red raincoat which we already know about. This suggests that on previous occasions I've seen the same man wearing the same raincoat.)

______

For substances (uncountables), use no article at all to indicate it doesn't matter which. (These are singular nouns.)

Add sugar if you like it sweeter. (Not any particular sugar. Just any sugar you can find.)

Peter threw water on the fire. (Not any particular water. Just any water that Peter was able to find.)

Do you like chocolate? (Not this piece of chocolate or that piece of chocalate, but chocolate in general.)

I need money to pay the rent. (Not the money that you have; not the money that George has; not the money that Jane has; but any money at all, it doesn't matter which money it is.)

______

Plurals follow the same general pattern as substances. Don't use an article if you're not saying which persons or things you're talking about. You're talking about "anonymous" things.

We used bricks to make the path. (No indication of which bricks. It doesn't matter which bricks. It's not as if you've identified these bricks as a special group of bricks. They're "anonymous".)

Joseph reads books and magazines in his spare time. (No indication of which books or which magazines. It doesn't matter which. We don't identify these books and magazines as a special group. They're "anonymous".)

I bought tomatoes for the salad. (No indication of which tomatoes. It doesn't matter which. They are "anonymous" tomatoes.)

______

Post your sentences, and we'll take a look at them.

The classification of words and the article attached (+abstract plural)

Aperisic — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 14:08:17 GMT

People have found this text useful so I am repeating it here in this entirety with error fixed (there are several posts combined in it)

Before I give you more detailed explanation I have to tell you that in dictionaries you can frequently find the type of the word: countable, uncountable, mass, abstractâ¦ However what is more important is to understand that the context is equally important. You can turn many words into abstract if you want to express an idea, quality or experience, and you can as well make from an uncountable word a countable one if you want to speak about one particular appearanceâ¦ So before you decide what is the type of the word you have to know

what is the most frequent context in which the word is found
what are the contexts you can use the word
whether and how each context changes the meaning of the word
which context is maybe awkward for the particular word

Once you know the context you can decide about the article attached. So here you have all contexts that one word can be found in. Do not forget that it is possible that you can change the context even when your dictionary says that a word is, for example, strictly countable.

A ball can mean one instance of ball, a more or less round gadget of different materials for playing games, but ball can mean the experience of playing games with a ball.

A ball is usually round. - one ball
Ball, however I've loved it, is what hurts my knees. - the experience of playing different games with a ball

However, this is the advanced level of understanding and for some time you should be very strict and use words how they are given in the dictionary. But, in order to truly understand some exceptions in literature you have to have the following view better.

1. The possible contexts of a word

count nouns one ball-two balls-some balls

they have plural
in singular you have to use a/an or the
in plural you use the to define a particular instance, and without the to define a type

uncount nouns homework-fun-knowledge-privacy-furniture

they have singular but it is used, by the rule, without a/an
they do not have plural
you do not count them using one, two... but you can measure them using some, a piece ofâ¦

mass nouns coffee-beer-cheese

in singular they can mean substance and in that case they are uncount so you do not use a but if you use the you mean a particular kind of that substance
in singular you can use a but in that case you talk about a regular portion or a type, a is actually a substitute for one (I want a coffee = I want one coffee = I want one cup of coffee)
in plural they mean several regular portions or types (several different cheeses = several different type of cheeses, two coffees = two cups of coffee)

singular nouns sun-strain-past-future

they are always singular and they always need a determiner (the sun, a strain, the past)
some normal nouns may have a special meaning when they are used as a singular noun (a note of urgency = a tone of haste)

plural nouns glasses-spectacles-clothes-conditions

they have only plural and you do not usually count them, but there are exceptions (two goods is not common, two scissors is ok)
you can use only the for known occurrences, for other the rules are similar to an uncount noun, unless you can count them (a/one scissors but even then you better say some scissors, a pair of scissors)
some normal words may have a different meaning when used as a plural noun (conditions - the factors that affect something)

collective nouns army-crew-government

they behave as a count noun but they can use singular or plural verb form, which depends on how you observe a group - as one item or a collection of several items

proper nouns names

they have the or do not have the based on the special rules or simply a custom

compound nouns

they are the nouns made of several words
apart from that they can belong to any other group mentioned here
they have special rules of creating the plural

abstract nouns intelligence-joy-relief

abstract nouns are usually uncountable and they behave as one
if you count them or use plural, you are referring to particular instance(s)

We choose our joys and sorrows long before we experience them. (joys - the things that make us joyful)

concrete nouns the nouns that are referring to physical objects

they can be in any group said above except abstract

As you can see the rules are strict, but there are exceptions. We say that uncountable nouns you cannot count, they do not use a and have no plural. However, if the word belongs to an abstract group expressing idea, feeling or experience, it may still be counted and have the plural when you mean about the particular occurrence(s). Not all abstract words are capable to switch to plural.

Some words can be observed as uncountable (hair) and behave as one, but if you use a they change the meaning. hair - strands growing on head or body, a hair - single strand growing on head or body (or found in a soup ) However, you can see that a is used to restrict the occurrence to certain physics dimension. Not all uncountable words are capable to use a and to be counted. If they do they almost without an exception change the meaning, though sometimes the change is not very serious.

water is uncountable so the rules says no plural, but then you deprive yourself from some important possible usages or understanding

waters -

a type of mineral waters
all rivers that flow into a large river or cover certain region
drops
place(s) to practice water sports
the places covered with water on the Earth
an area, realm (it can leads us to unknown waters)
the water natural beauties like waterfall, cascades...
a spa
the water near the shore of region or country
a type of water coming from many different sources - toxic waters

a water -

a river or lake or any closed area covered with water
a small amount of water that was examined for purity
a drop

So uncountable water is very capable to switch to a countable case with, of course, change of the meaning. Thus, the entire previous detailed classification is frequently relative. (However, when you use words in their regular and natural and most common context you use the strict rules: furniture in my house, not furnitures in my house, unless you have all together Louis XV, Louis XVI and Louis XVII furniture in your house [furnitures - types of furniture] to show off around. The furnitures we have are: commercial use furniture, counter system furniture, job station furniture, retail counter furniture)

I hope you start getting a picture. However, before you go into this area more thoroughly, it is highly recommendable to follow the standard usage especially if you have kind of exam.

The most frequent case is that each word has many different meanings. Each meaning can belong to a completely different group of words. A good dictionary gives the classification not by the word, but by each meaning of the word.

Sometimes you have to guess the classification, which is normally not so difficult.

Re: the cases of abstract nouns taking "thes"

Aperisic — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 11:58:34 GMT

Before I give you more detailed explanation I have to tell you that in dictionaries you can frequently find the type of the word: countable, uncountable, mass, abstractâ¦ However what is more important is to understand that the context is equally important. You can turn many words into abstract if you want to express an idea, quality or experience, and you can as well make from a uncountable word a countable one if you want to speak about one particular appearanceâ¦ So before you decide what is the type of the word you have to know

what is the most frequent context in which the word is found
what are the contexts you can use the word
whether and how each context changes the meaning of the word
which context is maybe awkward for the particular word

A ball can mean one instance of ball, a more or less round gadget of different materials for playing games, but ball can mean the experience of playing games with a ball.

A ball is usually round. - one ball
Ball, however I've loved it, is what hurts my knees. - the experience of playing different games with a ball

The possible contexts of a word

count nouns one ball-two balls-some balls

they have plural
in singular you have to use a/an or the
in plural you use the to define a particular instance, and without the to define a type

uncount nouns homework-fun-knowledge-privacy-furniture

they have singular but it is used, by the rule, without a/an
they do not have plural
you do not count them using one, two... but you can measure them using some, a piece ofâ¦

mass nouns coffee-beer-cheese

in singular they can mean a substance and in that case they are uncount so you do not use a but if you use the you mean a particular kind of that substance
in singular you can use a but in that case you talk about a regular portion or a type, a is actually a substitute for one (I want a coffee = I want one coffee = I want one cup of coffee)
in plural they mean several regular portions or types (several different cheeses = several different type of cheeses, two coffees = two cups of coffee)

singular nouns sun-strain-past-future

they are always singular and they always need a determiner (the sun, a strain, the past)
some normal nouns may have a special meaning when they are used as a singular noun (a note of urgency = a tone of haste)

plural nouns glasses-spectacles-clothes-conditions

they have only plural and you do not usually count them, but there are exceptions (two goods is not common, two scissors is ok)
you can use only the for known occurrences, for other the rules are similar to an uncount noun, unless you can count them (a/one scissors but even then you better say some scissors, a pair of scissors)
some normal words may have a different meaning when used as a plural noun (conditions - the factors that affect something)

collective nouns army-crew-government

they behave as a count noun but they can use singular or plural verb form, which depends on how you observe a group - as one item or a collection of several items

proper nouns names

they have the or do not have the based on the special rules or simply a custom

compound nouns

they are the nouns made of several words
apart from that they can belong to any other group mentioned here
they have special rules of creating the plural

abstract nouns intelligence-joy-relief

abstract nouns are usually uncountable and they behave as one
if you count them or use plural, you are referring to a particular instance(s)

We choose our joys and sorrows long before we experience them. (joys - the things that make us joyful)

concrete nouns the nouns that are referring to physical objects

they can be in any group said above except abstract

Some words can be observed as uncountable (hair) and behave as one, but if you use a they change the meaning. hair - strands growing on head or body, a hair - single strand growing on head or body (or found in a soup) However, you can see that a is used to restrict the occurrence to certain physics dimension. Not all uncountable words are capable to use a and to be counted. If they do they almost without an exception change the meaning, though sometimes the change is not very serious.

water is uncountable so the rules says no plural, but then you deprive yourself from some important possible usages or understanding

waters -

type(s) of mineral waters
all rivers that flow into a large river or cover certain region
drops
place(s) to practice water sports
the places covered with water on the Earth
an area, realm (it can lead us to unknown waters)
the water natural beauties like waterfall, cascades...
a spa
the water near the shore of region or country
a type of water coming from many different sources - toxic waters

a water -

a river or lake or any closed area covered with water
a small amount of water that was examined for purity
a drop

I hope you start getting the picture. However, before you go into this area more thoroughly, it is highly recommendable to follow the standard usage especially if you have kind of exam.

Now, back to your question.

The abstract nouns are usually regarded as uncountable, thus if you use the you mean of one particular occurrence.

That medicine is very good. The relief was immediate. (the relief: in my case, when I used it ...)