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

Re: Article usage: proper noun and uncountable noun correspondence?

Cool Breeze — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 08:57:58 GMT

1. It may be unwise to say that something can be done to all proper nouns in English because there seem to be so many exceptions to every rule. However, using a and the with proper nouns in certain contexts is normal. The of-genitive - or of structure - or whatever you prefer to call it often requires the:

the England of my dreams

An adjectival attribute is a common reason for a:

We saw a sad George Bush on television last night.

He wants to live in a different England.

2. The names of cemeteries are not listed in grammar books as requiring the. Moreover, it is normal that if a name is made up of a proper noun plus a common noun, no article is used:

Gatwick Airport, Oslo University, London Bridge, Westminster Abbey

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: I"m going to 000 university

Clive — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 22:39:19 GMT

Hi,

I don't think there's the article 'a' before 000 right?

University is a countable noun, so why no article? When we say 'I'm going to York University', 'York University' is a proper name (and thus we normally use a capital 'U'). That's why there is no article. If you say 'I'm going to a York university'', it sounds like you are going to a university that is located in the city of York, and also that there is more than one university in York.

Also, without 000 I think the article can be used Yes, because it is just a common/countable noun

(what's the difference if it's not used?), When you say 'I'm going to university', it's like saying 'I'm going to school'. 'To university' and 'to school' are idiomatic phrases that do not refer to any specific university or school. On the other hand 'to a university' refers to a specific univeristy.

like "I'm going to a university".

Think about it this way. If you say to me, 'I'm going to univerity', I might respond 'That sounds interesting.'

But if you say to me, 'I'm going to a university', I 'd probably ask 'Which one?'

Best wishes, Clive

I"m going to 000 university

Mkyol — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 06:36:34 GMT

I don't think there's the article 'a' before 000 right?

University is a countable noun, so why no article?

Also, without 000 I think the article can be used (what's the difference if it's not used?), like

"I'm going to a university".

Why is that?

I have some suspicions in the matter, but I would still like someone to clarify it for me.

Re: About the word 'music'

Vorpar — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 03:04:10 GMT

"I love to listen to music" "I love to listen to songs"

And by the way there isn't plural form for the word 'music', isn't it?; Uncountable nouns can't be used in situations where a plural would be used. Some English words are the same for both singular and plural e.g. deer

4: "They study hard at university" - This is a regional sentence. In America, we would say "They study hard at college." In England, the original sentence would be correct.

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 — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 11:04:39 GMT

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?

Re: some questions including use of colon

Clive — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 17:59:46 GMT

Hi,

After a fake academic degree scandal of Ms.Shin, a former professor at Dongguk University, is exposed, a continual coming out of celebritiesâ âfake degreeâ is following like domino effect : Ms.Yunâs confession that she hasnât attended Ewha Univ. is also one of the case.

What is the difference, if any, between using "a continual coming out" and "a continual 'outing'" in terms of structural correctness, not considering its grammatical or semantical correctness? Can we say "a continual coming out" as a countable noun (sense), not it to mean "coming out in a sexual nature (or way),"; and using it as a gerund being used as a countable noun. Is "coming out" a gerund? I think a gerund is one that having the characteristic of both verb and noun. If it could, how would you see it as -- as the first mention of a countable noun or as an instance of the uncountable noun "coming out"? Sorry if my question is ambiguous.

I'm not sure what you are asking . I see both 'coming out' and 'outing' as gerunds. I suppose you could, if you wanted to, talk about 'several comings out' or 'several outings', although the plural forms do sound awkward and umcommon.

Best wishes, Clive

"a little" or "a few"

Mayjl — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 04:57:09 GMT

This is a question from Unit 87 of Cambridge University Press ç Grammar in Use.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Q: Listen carefully; I'm going to give you ________advice.

little/ a little/ few/ a few

Which one is the best answer?

-------------------------------------------------

The correct answer is âa few.â

My question is, âWhy is âa fewâ the best answer?â

In my grammar book, it said, ââlittle/a littleâ is used with an uncountable noun, and âfew/a fewâ is with a countable noun.â And âadviceâ is an uncountable noun. Shouldnât âlittle/a littleâ be more appropriate in this question?

By the way, is it possible that it is about British English and American English?

Thank you for the help. : )

Definite article before 'separation', 'custody' and 'authorization'

Starstuff — Wed, 19 Apr 2006 05:30:13 GMT

*first greets all the faithful teachers here*

Question (copied from my accounting exercise book):

Lana Emerick handles cash receipts and has the authority to write off accounts receivable. This violates separation of (1)

A. custody (2) of assets from accounting.
B. operations from accounting
C. duties within the accounting function
D. authorization (3) of transactions from custody (4) of related assets.

1. How come there's no 'the' before 'separation'? Since 'separation' is a countable noun, 'a' or 'the' must be used in front of it, or we'll have to use 'separations'. I thought 'of' makes 'separation' definite

2. How come there's no 'the' before custody? Ok 'custody' is not countable, so we use either 'the' or nothing before it. But in the case, I thought 'of' makes custody definite, so why didn't they use 'the'?

3. The same for 'authorization', it's countable, and 'of' makes it definite

4. Again the same for 'custody'.

My explanations for the four cases above are what I have leanred about articles. I thought any countable noun must be modified with an article or used in its plural form rather than preceded by nothing. ie. "the University of blah blah", "the city of blah blah." "a friend of mine"; on the other hand, I thought any noncountable noun must be preceded with 'the' if it's followed by 'of'.

However, the case above proved me wrong, and I think I must have got it wrong somewhere. (unless the person who wrote this question was trying to be lazy)

Teachers, please shed some light!

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

Re: Article usage: proper noun and uncountable noun correspondence?

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: I"m going to 000 university

I"m going to 000 university

Re: About the word 'music'

Re: Articles (a, an)

Re: Articles (a, an)

Re: some questions including use of colon

"a little" or "a few"

Definite article before 'separation', 'custody' and 'authorization'

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