Search results for 'tag:Dates tag:Definite articles' matching tags 'Dates' and 'Definite articles'

Re: correct to say "introductions of new members"

Anonymous — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 21:35:48 GMT

Hi,

Unless you are being direct about addressing a group of people and about introducing the new members, I would just say "introduction of new members" without the definite article "the." I think English is open in terms of its ability to accommodate situations like this and it would seem to be OK to say these without the definite article "the" in my opinion unless one is referring to a specific group of new students or the definiteness needs to be established contextually.

introduction of new members of our society/group/school -- less specific in terms of who they are referring to

introduction of the new members of our society/group/school -- more specific in terms of who they are referring to

But both can work in most situations, IMO.

Having said that, I think I am confused as to why "introductions of new members" is not good. Each member will give an individual introduction to whoever is involved/there and that would seem to make if OK to say "introductions of new members." Confused.

Re: indefinite article before a gerund

Anonymous — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 22:48:36 GMT

Thank you, again.

Are these types of verbal nouns (as you called it) or instances of verbal nouns? What validates their placement of an indefinite article?

I did a Google Book search for the what you seem to be callling "verbal nouns" -- watching, mixing, playing, shouting and seemed to have come up with these tidbits:

a watching of the clould and pillar
a watching of the sky
a mixing of the two stratified layers
a mixing of the systems
a mixing of molecules
a playing of flutes
a playing of a symphony
a shouting of Song
a shouting of patrotic sentiments

What do all indefiinte articles indicate? An instance of mixing, watching, playing and shouting? Or a type of watching, mixing, playing, and shouting?
To make into types, I think, you can do it two ways: 1) by setting them up attributively -- eg, adding adjectives to make one different from the other or 2) by
setting them up into types contextually -- like saying "Orange juice is a liquid."

Another way to validate the use of an indefinte article seems to be to make instances of them, like how we do with the word 'discussion' -- a discussion to mean an instance of it, whereas discussion without the article to refer to it generally.

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.

not simple but yet important

Believer — Sun, 22 Oct 2006 06:49:46 GMT

Hi,

Maybe I really shouldn't delve too deeply into the topic of changing an uncountable noun into a countable noun but since I see them every so often in print, I want to ask you.

A person or two (think one person is Yankee) seem to have said that I have to find the words or things that can be categorized by types or degree and when you see an uncountable noun with an indefinite article, it is in fact pointing to a type or a particular instance of that thing or word.

Yankee gave these setence for me to think about:

Their was a love so deep that ...

I doubt that I'll ever again experience a darkness as profound as the darkness of that night.

Great but sometimes I do encounter words or things that do not seem to be susceptible to categorization by degree or in types, like the ones below. I want to say that I am not sure they are correct. I kind of made them up.

A democritization of a third-world nation is something to be highly praised.

A modernization of their equipment is an effort that is highly backed by the populace.

The words democritization and modernization seem to be unlikely candidates for this type of categorization that will enable them to make the transition noted. What I have done? Did I categorize them into types or mentioned specific types of them? I am not sure I did. Do you have some tips for me to see better of the things involved here?

Re: Lesson on issue of descriptive adjective and choice

Mister Micawber — Sun, 17 Sep 2006 13:23:37 GMT

Actually, I think I have already said what I had to say in my response to your post about the cats and alligators. But I'll go over some of your concerns:

I think I saw from a post here that kind of said that many times, having "descriptive adjectives" in front of UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS trigger the need (necesssity??) to have the indefinite article "a" -- I don't think there is the need, but certainly there is the possibility:

I have great faith in you.
I have a great sadness in my heart for their plight.

and I think Mr. M said to the effect that in many cases, the choice to put "a" or not to put it is optional for the cases like one below ("a great happiness" vs. just "great happiness")-- generally optional because both are possible; each case demands its own decision on which should be used.

Here, I think happiness is one-hundred percent uncountable noun??, not a variable noun.-- No, we have no context, and the noun itself is capable of either form.

His dog is a great happiness in his life. (Sounds good, isn't it? I think the writer is talking about a kind of happiness and not the general term, happiness.) -- I agree

His dog is great happiness in his life. (Sounds good, I think, and the writer seems to be saying that his dog is great happiness in a general sense, not to mean any kind of happiness.) -- I don't agree. You have set up a predicate nominative. His dog has brought great happiness into his life would be fine. I leave further analysis to you.

1) So, can I say in almost all the cases, the choice to put a or not to put a when you have some descriptive adjectives in front of them depend on the context and perspective of the writer? -- Yes, that sounds good-- but more critical is the semantic meaning.

2) Can you give me some cases where the choices as described above in not available? -- Not offhand, but I am sure there are many-- I am sure that not all candidate nouns are capable of such permutations.

3) Can you check if these are right?

This form of words is fantastic English. -- OK

This form of words is perfectly acceptable English. -- OK

This form of words is "good" English -- OK

This form of words is a fantastic English.-- Not so.

This form of words is a perfectly acceptable English. -- Not so.

This form of words is a "good" English. -- Not so

This form of words is a regional English -- OK. English and Englishes are specific concepts in linguistics; perhaps that is why the countable form is not so attractive in your sentences. Context, flexibility, semantics.
4) Right now, I have this uneasy feeling when I try to put what look to be descriptive adjectives in front of uncountable nouns because I am afraid I might accidently turn them into paticular kinds of something and not to mean generally. Do you think my feeling regarding that is unwarranted because the control is in me whether I want to make them to mean kinds of something or refer (or use them to mean something) in general terms? -- Fear not; just think what you are trying to say: are you speaking of a general concept or an individual instance? and choose accordingly.

5) Can I be able to put "a" in front of uncountable nouns which have what I think are descriptive adjectives? -- Generally yes, if you realize that it then becomes countable.

Is something in apostrophes qualify like "good" above qualify as a descriptive adjective? -- Yes.

Help. -- I hope this did.

Re: What's the date / day today?

Aperisic — Sat, 19 Aug 2006 17:49:42 GMT

A) What's the date today? --> (Today is) 19th August.

B) What's the day today? --> (Today is) Saturday.

Could you please answer the following questions:

6) Americans write dates in the Month, Day format. As far as I know, both of these are correct: August 19 and August 19th. Which is more common?

August 19th is common for historical events or any important dates, it is the formal style.

August 19 about 8 times more common.

6)? As far as I know, the definite article is optional: "August (the) nineteenth". Is "August nineteen" OK?

You said it but to make it strict: you do not write a figure of day, it always goes as a number 19 or 19th. But you read it as an ordinal number. British read with the American without the: August nineteenth. (But, August nineteen is not correct) In front. it is always the nineteenth of April.

Re: What's the date / day today?

Philip — Sat, 19 Aug 2006 15:31:02 GMT

Pastsimple wrote:
Hi,

A) What's the date today? --> (Today is) 19th August.

B) What's the day today? --> (Today is) Saturday.

Could you please answer the following questions:

1) What are the alternative ways of asking about the current day/date? (E.g. What day is today? What day is it today?)Both are fine.
2) Which of them are the most common and natural ones?
3) I've heard some non-native speakers respond with "Today it is <date or day here>." I would use this when describing the weather. Is that OK? Sounds uncommon to me. However, "It is <date or day here>."O.K. sounds completely OK to me.
4) Are the two t's in "What's the date today?" pronounced as one t in relaxed/fast speech? Such as in "I want to..." Well, I'd say they are. Essentially, yes. There is a slight hesitation before continuing.
5) A husband forgot his wife's birthday and she wants to subtly remind him. What question is she going to ask? (Interestingly enough, in my mother tongue she'd say something very similar to B ). ????
6) Americans write dates in the Month, Day format. As far as I know, both of these are correct: August 19 and August 19th. Which is more common?The first one, in writing.
7) How do Americans pronounce the date in 6)? As far as I know, the definite article is optional: "August (the) nineteenth". Is "August nineteen" OK? Sounds strange but who knows...I think we use the ordinal more often than the cardinal.

Thanks in advance, as always.

I hope this helps. I've no idea what you're getting at in 5).

What's the date / day today?

Pastsimple — Sat, 19 Aug 2006 15:12:47 GMT

Hi,

A) What's the date today? --> (Today is) 19th August.

B) What's the day today? --> (Today is) Saturday.

Could you please answer the following questions:

1) What are the alternative ways of asking about the current day/date? (E.g. What day is today? What day is it today?)
2) Which of them are the most common and natural ones?
3) I've heard some non-native speakers respond with "Today it is <date or day here>." Is that OK? Sounds uncommon to me. However, "It is <date or day here>." sounds completely OK to me.
4) Are the two t's in "What's the date today?" pronounced as one t in relaxed/fast speech? Such as in "I want to..." Well, I'd say they are.
5) A husband forgot his wife's birthday and she wants to subtly remind him. What question is she going to ask? (Interestingly enough, in my mother tongue she'd say something very similar to B ).
6) Americans write dates in the Month, Day format. As far as I know, both of these are correct: August 19 and August 19th. Which is more common?
7) How do Americans pronounce the date in 6)? As far as I know, the definite article is optional: "August (the) nineteenth". Is "August nineteen" OK? Sounds strange but who knows...

Thanks in advance, as always.

Re: Do you need any articles before the date?

Believer — Thu, 16 Mar 2006 02:42:29 GMT

Can it be like this too?

1. In response to your inquiry dated 15 February 2006, I confirm athat the consignment of definite articles was sent on the 12th of March.

But not,

2. In response to your inquiry dated 15 February 2006, I confirm that the consignment of definite articles was sent on 12th of March.

Is the first sentence correct grammatically but not the second one?