Search results for 'tag:Countable nouns tag:Definite articles' matching tags 'Countable nouns' and 'Definite articles'

Re: indefinite article before a gerund

Cool Breeze — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 10:49:43 GMT

I am not sure if the following answers your question but I'll say it anyway. Some grammarians don't distinguish between verbal nouns (= complete nouns formed from verbs with the ing ending) and gerunds (= words that are neither verbs nor nouns but resemble both to some extent). Some apply the term "gerund" to both of them. Perhaps your confusion arises from that?

A verbal noun really is a noun in that it can assume all the characteristics any countable noun has. This means that it can have an article, an adjectival attribute (or more than just one) and it can occur in the plural:

The correct speaking of English is easy.

His old writings don't interest me.

Perhaps some of the "gerunds" that bother you or arouse your interest belong to this category? Mixing in your post certainly does.

Some verbal nouns have become part and parcel of the language and are included in dictionaries, like "beginning" for example. In some cases you have a choice: a happy end/ending.

Gerunds can't be preceded by an article or an adjectival attribute because they are not full-fledged nouns. They bear some resemblance to verbs: they can take an object:

Speaking English correctly is easy.

Re: NOUN

Believer — Fri, 30 May 2008 23:55:17 GMT

Thank you, Avangi.

In my previous post, I should have used third-person verb tenses, 'sounds' and 'gives' -- proper subject-verb agreement wasn't made due to my carelessness.

Going back to your request for examples of cases where I would feel something in quotes could not be used with an indefinite article becauss of its semantic meaning, I would have say that I can't think of any at this point in time.

Do you think anything in quotes is good a candidate as a typical (known-to-be??) uncountable noun?

Thank you.

NOUN

Believer — Wed, 28 May 2008 22:12:14 GMT

Hi,

It has been known to me that a gerund can function as a noun and should or likely to be treated more as an uncountable noun than a countable noun.

Mixing of sugar and flour makes this dough ...

If you want to be specific, I think you could write:

The mixing of sugar and flour makes this dough ...

If you want to indicate the mixing being an instance of it or an example of it, you could write (I think) like this:

A mixing of sugar and flour makes this dough ...

It could be more clear if you write this though (but the above example seems to be correct grammatically too):

An instance of sugar and flour makes this dough ...

It has been to me that a quoted content (I may be wrong but what I call a quoted content is one that has quotation marks around it, whether or not they are done to quote someone's words or to highlight a word/words) can be treated an uncountble noun too.

"-ing" is not needed in your sentence. -- Just the mention of a case to highlight, I think.

The "-ing" is not needed in your sentence. -- Not just mentioning but specificallymentioning, I think.

A "-ing" is not needed in your sentence. -- An example of "-ing" use or an instance of "-ing" use, but this is what gives me trouble. I think whether a word in quotation marks can accommodate an indefinite article is predicated on whether its semantic meaning can embrace it.

So, I think I would be able to say, depending on words, some words that are in quotation marks can accommodate its having an indefinite article, whereas some words that are in quotation marks can't accommodate the use because its semantic meaning and how it is used in sentences make it awkward at best if not wrong to have an indefinite article. Sounds plausible?

Sorry for a long post.

Re: There is no/not

Jadarite — Sat, 24 May 2008 22:56:22 GMT

Interesting question. I DON'T HAVE ANY absolute answers, but I HAVE SOME comments. I also HAVE NO absolute answer.

First, we can say "There isn't any/a", but we cannot say "There is no any/a". "Any/a" can be used with countable nouns, but we can't with "no" (ex. "There is no restaurants here."). Compare this with "There aren't any restaurants here." This is where these two forms meet. We have to change "is" to "are" ("There are no restaurants here" and "There aren't any restaurants here.")

To me, using "There is no" has a more concrete aspect to it ("There is no school today"). "There isn't any school today" sounds like there could be several schools, but we don't have to go to any of them today. In reality, we probably only go to one school, so even though "school" is countable it holds a quasi-noncountable quality to it.

Let's look at it the other way around. "There is no milk in the fridge". In this case, and in English books, I have only seen chapters where they try to get students to say "There isn't/aren't any".

However, in certain cases, I think "There is no" would be perfectly fine. If both people are aware of what is being talked about, like with definite articles, then "There is no" would have more relevance.

A: Can you get that milk we bought yesterday out of the fridge?
B: Ok. I am looking, but there is no milk.

If one of the speakers doesn't know, "There isn't any" would have more relevance.

A: I am thirsty, can I have something to drink?
B: Ok. There is some orange juice and apple juice in the fridge, but there isn't any milk."

In conversation though, we treat them the same with a few exceptions.

"There is no turning back" / "There isn't any turning back(???)"
"There is no place like home" / "There isn't any place like home (???)"
"There are no cats" (???) / "There aren't any cats" - If the number is zero, then you only need to state there isn't 1, and logically "There are no cats" could just convey "There aren't 2 cats or more". It doesn't preclude there being 1, even though we usually assume it's zero.
"There are no tires in the trunk" / "There aren't any tires in the trunk" - This is the same as the school example. We would only have one tire, so as the cat example isn't clear enough, "There aren't any" goes too far conveying "There isn't the spare tire we would normally find, and there isn't another one either which we would never account for".

the word "lack" countable or uncountable

Anonymous — Fri, 09 May 2008 01:35:16 GMT

Hi there,

I am from an asian country (korea) and Korean doesn't distinguish countable or uncountable nouns so I have some problem with this concept even though I have been living in english speaking country for 10 years.

Now the word "lack" according to the online Longman dictionary is an uncountable noun, as well as a singular noun.

But we usually say "a lack of quality" or "a lack of resources".

Now we know for sure we never put "a" in front of "water" because "water" is an uncountable noun, as in "furniture" or "stuff".

So how is it that word "lack" can have an indefinite article in front of it?

Does it mean that the English language lacks logic inherently?

Thanks.

Re: choice

vsubscr — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 21:25:45 GMT

There is a rule in English saying that you should use the definite article with countable nouns whenever you refer not to particular objects but rather to the whole class or type. Does it really apply here with right/wrong answers or numbers?

By saying "You've got the wrong number" one mean "You've got the wrong number type".

Wrong or right answers form two different answer types/classes. Clearly, we should use the definite article whenever we bear one of those classes in mind in contrast to a particular answer.

I appreciate any comments from the native speakers because I am not.

Re: number as adjective or sort of determiner

Believer — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 12:23:20 GMT

Thank you, CB. I might have been confused since I was trying to digest too much information in a too short period of time. (That does sound lame, doesn't it?)

Why is the definite article seems correct to be placed here but an indefinite article doesn't seem to correct to be placed there? I think in most cases, 'a' can be easily replaced with the word 'one'. If 'the' can be used with the countable noun 'apple', it seems logical to assume 'a' can be used in a right situation too.

(to borrow your sentence that served as the corrected sentence of mine)

It is a gigantic apple you've ve got in your hand, but I like the one gigantic apple you had in your hand yesterday.

Always appreciate your help.

Re: mass noun and count noun

Yoong Liat — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 03:08:58 GMT

Hi Jackson

5: As name suggests a count noun is countable, then how can one use indefinite article a or an with it?

In grammar, 'countable' means that you can count the noun concerned. For example. an egg, one egg, two eggs, etc.

'Uncountable' means that particular noun cannot be literally counted. For example, one money, two monies, two sand, two sands.

Some may say some uncountable nouns can be counted. For example, one dollar, two dollars, two plates of rice, two cups of water, etc. But here you are counting 'dollars', 'plates' and 'cups', which are countable nouns.

I hope the above answers your question.

Best wishes

Re: genitive as a noun

Believer — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 12:24:40 GMT

Thank you, Eimai_Anglos.

Are you saying a genitive cannot be made a countable noun or used as a countable noun? I think a guru has delivered expert advice on that aspect of grammar and I think it has been said a construction like "a shaking of a ground" means "an instance of shaking of a ground." Please note that it is a shaking in what seems to be a countable noun form.

Can you give me your expertise in this matter?

1. Why can some genitives have the indefinite article "a" like the genitive noun word "shaking"?

2. At the same time, why don't I never seem to have encountered a plural form of the word "shaking" as "shakings"?

3. Here, "with shouting, yelling and swearing, the motorists ...," would you say the phrase "with shouting, yelling and swearing" is correctly written? If it is correctly written, then what kind of noun are they? My dictionary seems to note that "shouting" is a countable noun but for the two others, I am not sure.

Thank you.

some rule about using articles

Anonymous — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 10:35:59 GMT

Hi,

There is an entry in the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary about usage of indefinite article:

used before uncountable nouns when these have an adjective in front of them, or phrase following them:
a good knowledge of French
a sadness that wonât go away

However, just came across this example:
It takes true grit (U) to stand up to a bully.

So, I guess, the rule above is more of a guideline than a rule?