Search results for 'tag:Countable nouns tag:Regards' matching tags 'Countable nouns' and '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: some/a few; regarding/regarding to

Avangi — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 20:15:01 GMT

Anonymous wrote:

What is different between "some" and "a few" when referring to countable nouns? Nothing.  Both mean "a small number of", although only "few" = "small" by definition. (some can be used for both countable & uncountable   -   I guess you knew that!)

e.g. I have stopped taking the pills for some days./ I have stopped taking the pills for a few days. In this example, voice inflection could be used to make some a bit more than a few.
Is there any other word carrying similar senses, both formal and informal, that we can use to make our writing and speaking more natural? I have several pills left. There is/are only a handful left. This is figurative. You can actually say, "There are only a handful of cars left in the lot." (Don't use is here   -   is makes it less figurative.)

How do you use "regarding" and "regarding to"? Any difference? haven't heard "regarding to"   maybe you've heard "according to" or "in regard to"

Thanks for your help.

Have you heard anything about/regarding/in regard to my job application?

According to the weather report, we're in for some snow.

Questions about As Much...As clause.

Sabyakgp — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 21:05:14 GMT

Dear Friends,

I have couple of questions (which has been nagging me for a long time) about 'As much...As' comparative clause.

What all (noun (uncountable/countable), adjectives (gradable/non-gradable), infinitive, gerund) we can use in 'As much....as' clause?

'As much <noun (uncountable/countable)> as'

'As much adjectives (gradable/non-gradable)> as'

'As much <infinitive> as'

'As much <gerund> as'

Could you please explain me.

My second query is:

I know that "much" can be used before uncounatble nouns. But I came accross a famous quotation of Mahatma Gandhi.

"Non-cooperation with evil is as much a duty as is cooperation with good"

In the above mentioned sentence, duty is used as a countable noun with as much. Could you plesae explain this?

Best Regards,
Sabya

Do they conceptualize this way?

Believer — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 10:32:01 GMT

Hi,

Different than those who rely on a dictionary to find out whether a particular word is a countable or uncountable noun, do native speakers rely their own knowledge of word usage that naturally stem from years of usage? I think if you look at some dictionaries from America, for instance, I think you will find out some do not have countable or uncountable notations for a word but seem to just list straight definitions of a word. Is that how a native speaker learns to distinguish whether a word is countable or uncountable?

The dictionay I have seems to list many definitions along with many different notations that tell whether each defined noun case for a word is countable or uncountable, or even variable. The definitional entries for 'experience', for example, are many. but when I asked a question in regard to the fact that those many definitions are confusing to apply in real sentential situations, I think a guru has told me to the effect that it all comes down to a general vs. specific differentiation.

Then why is that that word is not shown as a variable noun?

Why is that a dictionary like the one I list some words as a variable noun and for some other words like the word 'experience', it does not say it is a variable noun but goes on to list many definitional entries that seem to come down to general and specific differentiations as a guru seems to have noted in response to one of my inquring posts?

It seems, to native speakers, there is no need to look at a dictionary of my kind to sort through many entries to find one that is likely to meant to be the one that fits more or less perfectly in a particular sentential situation he is not sure about. Sorry if my question is confusing.

Re: Denoting Past possibility : "Could be" or "could have been"

Sabyakgp — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 16:17:13 GMT

Grammar Geek,

You are right, voyage is a countable noun so requires a determiner. Also, I am sorry for the typo "dengerous".

Best Regards,
Sabya

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

Hoa Thai — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 11:05:07 GMT

Hi Cool Breeze and everyone,

First, I would like to disclaim my ability to read Mr. Steinbackâs mind.

Second, beauty is in the eye of the beholder; thus, whatever I share below is just a pure figment of my imagination.

When I first read the passage, the personification usage was quite clear. It was so clear that my brain fixated only on the author's seemingly grammatical mishap. Then, when I read the next sentence in the same passage, I noticed his use of the definitive article the for shadow, which is an uncountable noun â Mr. Steinbeck must have been fully aware of the grammatical contrast between the two sibling sentences.

Nevertheless, my brain did not register anything besides focusing on the contrast until I saw the last word from MrPedanticâs comment, âpersonificationâ. Suddenly, it made sense to me if I replaced Evening of a hot day with John of a one-person village. Why does that matter?

To me, âThe evening of a hot dayâ sends a message that a hot day restricts the meaning of evening. Again, it must be out of my own imagination, such restriction - from personification point of view - diminishes the role of evening, the passageâs main actor that âstarted the wind and cast the moving shadow up the hillâ. If The is removed, the seemingly grammatical error would tarnish the beauty of his painting. To solve the dilemma is to name evening Evening!

Mr. Steinback turned âa picture worth a thousand wordsâ on its head; with lesser than 50 words in three sentences he painted a very dynamic picture for us to behold.

Best Regards,
Hoa Thai

Re: Sentence question

Hoa Thai — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 05:17:57 GMT

WANG CHUN wrote:
Hello

I am not sure if this sentence is right or not in terms of its grammar, word choice, and semantics. If you find something wrong, please help me edit them. Thank you very much.

What sub-role can teachers play in teacher-student interaction in order to facilitate studentsâ assimilation of second language acquisition?

Dear Wang Chun,

1. Grammatically, acquisition is a countable noun; thus, an article is needed.
2. About word choice, I would remove "in order"; 'to' is good enough. In addition, 'facilitate', 'assimilation', and 'acquisition' could be exchanged with 'help', 'learn' , etc... (simpler words that people know).
3. Semantically, I find 'assimilation of an ... acquisition' sounds awkward.

My preference:

What role can teachers play in teacher-student interaction to help students learn a second language?

Best Regards,
Hoa Thai

Re: Articles (a, an)

Hoa Thai — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 14:08:13 GMT

Yoong Liat wrote:
Hi Hoa Thai

From a webpage of Cambridge University International Education and Training Society, http://www.societies.cam.ac.uk/iets/
" ... Summarise general situations and common difficulties for students in graduate, undergraduate, A-Levels and GCSE courses, and provide advices and assistances to individual cases."

The word 'assistances', I believe, is a typo. 'Assistance' an uncountable noun. I've not come across 'assistances'. Could 'advices' be a typo too?

Dear Yoong Liat,

I maybe wrong, but I think people turn a noncount noun into a count noun because of their learning habit in grade schools (fish / fishes, water / waters, lemonade / a lemonade, etc...). The idea is to differentiate two or more types or groups of noncount entities. That is why advice also takes on the plural form. Here are a few examples:

I caught many fish today - no specific type.
Fishes show a starting variety of body forms and behaviors - different types of fish.

Please give me some water - no specific source.
Kayaking on the protected waters of Tomales Bay near San Francisco is fun - different water sources.

My parents give me their advice - no specific, just opinion.
This list contains the official advices from our embassy - various pieces of news / information.

All of the above can be found in dictionaries and usage handbooks. Thus, people like me assume that we can extend the principle to other noncount nouns.

In regards to assistance, one may find many governmental offices pluralize it too. For instance, they try to differentiate FEMA disaster assistance from those provided by various states; and refer to them as assistances.

Back to your question - if we follow the dictionaries strictly, one can assume that the statement given by Cambridge University IETS must contain typographical errors (i.e., by an unconscious action). However, we can also assume that whoever wrote that statement might consciously try to deliver various pieces of news knowing that they violated the so-called good writing practice and went for consistency.

Some people follow the leaders or take part in the majority; others decide to rebel in order to express their opinions, which they believe are more consistent and logical. I, myself, still need much time to learn to decide which side of the fence is right. So far, I believe this forum is the place for me to come for help when I am in doubt. I would appreciate that you could help me polish my language skills by giving me a few writing pointers while reading my replies.

Special thanks to you all,
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)

Expressions like "So beautiful a house" or "So stupid a person"

Mr. Tom — Tue, 01 May 2007 20:57:52 GMT

I would like to know if the expressions like "So beautiful a house" or "So stupid a person" are possible with countable nouns only! How can I use such expressions with uncountable nouns? For example,

1- It was so fatal (a?) poison.

Or any other example with uncountable noun?

Regards

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

Re: Heart and Hearts

Re: some/a few; regarding/regarding to

Questions about As Much...As clause.

Do they conceptualize this way?

Re: Denoting Past possibility : "Could be" or "could have been"

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

Re: Sentence question

What sub-role can teachers play in teacher-student interaction in order to facilitate studentsâ assimilation of second language acquisition?

What role can teachers play in teacher-student interaction to help students learn a second language?

Re: Articles (a, an)

Re: Articles (a, an)

Expressions like "So beautiful a house" or "So stupid a person"

What sub-role can teachers play in teacher-student interaction in order to facilitate studentsâ assimilation of second language acquisition?