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

Re: grammar. reason behind the verb (increases)

Mister Micawber — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 04:51:50 GMT

the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) increases

This is a plural countable noun. There have been one or more increases in both the GST and the ERP, so the minimum possible is two increases.

the Goods and Services Tax (GST) increases/increase

Again, this is a countable noun, but either the singular or the plural is possible, depending in how many increases the GST had-- one increase or several increases.
.

Re: 1) "It's the best movie yet"- Does this sentence mean this is the best movie ever?

Clive — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 03:45:23 GMT

Hi,

1) "It's the best movie yet"- Does this sentence mean this is the best movie ever? The best up to the present time.

2) What are the differences between exculpate and acquit and exonerate?

The first that comes to mind is that #1 is pretty rare, #2 is extremely common, and #3 is less common.

Here are a few comments.
exculpate - free someone from blame. Not necessarily related to crimes/courts.
acquit - decide someone is not giuilty. (Also has other meanings). Commonly related to crimes/coutrts.
exonerate - show someone is innocent after they are thought to be guilty.

3) Can two or more uncountable noun going with and go with a plural verb? <<< Hunh? This is a hard question to understand.

Money and love are two different things OK

Money and love is two different thingNot OK

4)How can you define self realization? Does it mean the same as realization or actualization?

self-realization - focuses on 'myself'.
realization - can focus on something outside 'myself'.

actualization - focuses on making ideas into reality.

5) In this sentence:" You have been tutored and refined by books and retirement from the world, and you are therefore somewhat (somewhat what? This statement seems incomplete); but this only renders you the more fit to appreciate the extradordinary merits of this wonderful man."

What class of words does fit stand in? Noun or adj? If it is noun, how can it come after the more? It's an adjective. McCain and Obama are both fit to be Prsident, but of the two of them, Obama is the more fit.

Supposed you don't know the word "render" and have to base on the context to guess. So here are two possible choices" provide" and "make". What is your choice? Why? It depends on the context. Would you like to provide a few, for comments?

Best wishes, Clive

1) "It's the best movie yet"- Does this sentence mean this is the best movie ever?

Belly — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 00:32:44 GMT

1) "It's the best movie yet"- Does this sentence mean this is the best movie ever?

2) What are the differences between exculpate and acquit and exonerate?

3) Can two or more uncountable noun going with and go with a plural verb?

Money and love are two different things

Money and love is two different thing

4)How can you define self realization? Does it mean the same as realization or actualization?

5) In this sentence:" You have been tutored and refined by books and retirement from the world, and you are therefore somewhat ; but this only renders you the more fit to appreciate the extradordinary merits of this wonderful man."

What class of words does fit stand in? Noun or adj? If it is noun, how can it come after the more?

Supposed you don't know the word "render" and have to base on the context to guess. So here are two possible choices" provide" and "make". What is your choice? Why?

Thanks in advance

1) "It's the best movie yet"- Does this sentence mean this is the best movie ever?

2) What are the differences between exculpate and acquit and exonerate?

3) Can two or more uncountable noun going with and go with a plural verb?

Money and love are two different things

Money and love is two different thing

4)How can you define self realization? Does it mean the same as realization or actualization?

What class of words does fit stand in? Noun or adj? If it is noun, how can it come after the more?

Supposed you don't know the word "render" and have to base on the context to guess. So here are two possible choices" provide" and "make". What is your choice? Why?

Thanks in advance

Re: A few English Grammar Questions !! Need help..

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 16:59:31 GMT

1. Â Â Â Â A group IS ... Â (Not important who is in the group). A group is a singular, countable noun.

3.Â Â Â Â Both wrong. Â Â Â Â She went home half an hour ago. Given, finished time requires simple past UNLESS it relates to another action in the past. e.g. She had gone home before the others arrived.

4.Â Â Â Â She has sold... Â Indefinite (no time) past. Done, but we don't know (or care) when.

5Â Â Â Â Ditto

6. Â Â Â Â Have you ever ...? Â Indefinite past. We don't know when.

7. Â Â Â Â Mmmm, this one is elementary ! Â Do you .... Â ALWAYS requires the infinitive form. e.g. Do you live..., Do you like..., Do you do... Do you have...?Â

I could write a whole grammar book on how to differentiate the 6 modal verbs and their MANY uses. I suggest you buy one.Â Â Â Â Good luck :)

Re: the vaccine is the case

Avangi — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 05:17:59 GMT

Heck no, this is a term I learned from CJ and Marius. "Educated" people speak with very precisely correct (higher register) English. "Uneducated" people tend to use the vernacular and make many common errors, speaking in English of a lower register. (I don't know how many registers there are, or exactly how they're designated. It's probably just qualitative.)

I see it used as both a countable and uncountable noun. I believe your usage is a verb.

Sometimes "low[er] register" sounds like a compound adjective, if such there be.

Re: pluralization of a gerund/verbal noun

Mr Wordy — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 03:08:08 GMT

With some verbs, yes. It depends on whether the "-ing" form of the verb is a recognised countable noun. For example, "there was a pounding" is fine, as is "poundings of the heart". On the other hand, "existings" (to pick an example at random) is unnatural because you never talk of "an existing".

I'm not sure there's any way to tell which verbs fall into which category except through experience of the language.

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: Paragraph Suggestions

Mister Micawber — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 08:10:14 GMT

Its versatility assists me adeptly in studies.-- The computer assists, not the versatility; 'adept' is for people.

And wrought mean shaped, so why its wrong here ? -- It is the wrong tense.

connected is wrong word? -- The verb should be passive in aspect.

wavy mean twisted cables , thats not sutibale as well? -- 'Wavy' is for hair; it is a pleasant image, unlike 'twisted'.

central is lined because i used capital C? -- 'Unit' is a singular countable noun, and the sentence is a comma splice (you need a conjunction).

shelf of the table please do explain why its wrong as well. -- Tables don't normally have shelves; desks may. Also, objects would have to go on a shelf, not at it.

When a present participle is not one

Avangi — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 16:59:09 GMT

Hi,

Something seems amiss in the category structure. My understanding used to be that the dictionary entry for a verb begins with the (bare) infinitive, and is typically followed by the present and past participles, and then the present 3rd person singular, or something like that. I always thought of these as building blocks in the formation of different tenses and other forms.

I have no problem calling the present participle a gerund when it serves as a noun, although I formerly thought "gerund" had a much broader definition. But why does it have to stop being the present participle? The infinitive is still the infinitive, regardless of which of several uses it's put to.

If they insist on doing this, why don't they come up with a correspondingly neat name for the present participle when it serves as an adjective?

It seems very strange indeed to say that the present participle cannot serve as the subject of a sentence, when I can see it doing so with my own eyes.

Can anyone justify this unbalanced treatment?? I've been hoping for an epiphany for several months now, and I'm about to give up. To me, it's like saying that an uncountable noun is not singular because "singular" has to do with countables. (This position recently held in a thread)

present participle as noun = (gerund)
present participle as adjective = (??????)

Best wishes, - A.

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.