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

Re: One of many problems faced by English learners is their own misconceptions.

AlpheccaStars — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 02:57:01 GMT

Jackson6612
Avangi
either "learners of the English language," or "English language learners."

Why is article the essential here? There is only one English language. e.g. I'm learning Chinese language these days. Is there any need to specify Chinese language using the? The use of the is justified in sentences as in ''I'm learning the Southern American English dialect nowadays.

Avangi, Jackson:

The rule is that articles (definite, indefinite) are omitted in the case of mass nouns (non-count), and required for count nouns.

"Language" is a count noun. Thus, I can say: I speak two languages - Spanish and Greek.

I am studying the language of the tribal peoples of Tanzania.

When English, Chinese, Polish, Russian, etc. are adjectives modifying "language", you say:

I am studying the Russian language.

In contrast, English (as well as Polish, Russian, Chinese) is a mass (non-count ) noun.

So then you can omit the definite article (the):

I am studying English, Chinese and Russian.

I am a native speaker of English.

There are exceptions: Fowler wrote a book on grammar titled: The King's English

But this is distinguishing the King's English from other Englishes (American, the Queen's, Old English, Middle English etc.)

Re: One of many problems faced by English learners is their own misconceptions.

Avangi — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 23:27:00 GMT

Jackson6612

Avangi
either "learners of the English language," or "English language learners."
Why is article the essential here? There is only one English language. e.g. I'm learning Chinese language these days. Is there any need to specify Chinese language using the? The use of the is justified in sentences as in ''I'm learning the Southern American English dialect nowadays. The article is required in all of these. I honestly have no idea why. My guess is that "language" is the object of the verb "to learn," and would require an article if it were used without "English" as a modifier. To qualify for standing without the article, a "subject of study" must be one of a few very well-established courses. "I'm majoring in Romance Languages at university." Here, Romance Languages is the recognized name of a well-established course of study, as is Chinese. In the case of a dialect, the indefinite article would be used if there were more than one. Avangi
<<One - - is their own misconceptions.>> IMO there should be number agreement here. Possibly, "One - - - is dealing with their own misconceptions."
Yes, there should be number agreement between verb and object. If I followed your suggestion then the sentence would read: One of many problems faced by learners of the English language is that they are dealing with their own misconceptions. Is that what you suggested? That would be fine. I was considering "that they are" to be optional, as the gerund "dealing" may serve by itself as predicate nominative following the being verb "is." Avangi
This is about "learners." You refer back five times with "they." At some point you might remind the reader who "they" are. Eg, "these learners," "the students," something else of your choosing.
Is choosing'' used as a present participle in the above context? I'd say functionally it's a gerund, serving as object of the preposition "of." The other option, "choice," would of course be a noun.
Avangi
<<During the learning process, they should stop taking the machinery of their native tongue for granted.>> As the final sentence of the first paragraph, this seems enigmatic. It's very well phrased, but the meaning is less than obvious (to me.) I feel like I want an additional sentence by way of (=as means of, as a type of) explanation, or clarification. Optionally, you could make your "machinery" image a little easier to connect up.
How can I make the machinery image a little easier to connect up? How did I know you were going to ask me that danged question?? During the learning process they should remind themselves that the machinery of their native tongue was a long time in [the] building and fine-tuning, and they must be willing to devote an equal effort to the new language. (I'm not sure I have your intention right.)
Avangi
In the second paragraph, at first blush (=when first thought of or considered) the antecedent (=a word or phrase which a pronoun refers back to) of "They" would seem to be "English speakers."
Yes, you are right. I will be more careful about such constructions in future.
Avangi
Have you verified that "idiomaticness" is a word? Or is it a "nonce (=occurring, used, or made only once or for a special occasion) word"?
It is a proper word according to the Merriam-Webster's dictionary.

Congratulations on your hard work. - A.

Edit. "Why is the article "the" essential here?"

correction of the analyse

ericsteef — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 20:21:15 GMT

a professional background

this phrase is NP

"a" is indefinite article function as determiner
"professional" is an adjective.
"background" is the head noun of the NP.

Is this right?

review

somer — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 19:49:02 GMT

3a) A cat ate the small animal.

3b) A cat is a small animal.

The syntactic analyses of the two sentences are differents. In the sentence 3a) we have (s, v, do) while, in the second sentence 3b) we have (s, v (copular), sP).

In 3a) âa cat âis noun phrase (a is determiner indefinite article, cat is head noun of noun phrase âa catâ), âateâ is verb in past simple tense,â the small animal â is noun phrase consist of determiner âtheâ, âsmallâ is adjective , âanimalâ is the head noun of the noun phrase, all the noun phrase functions as direct object.

In 3b) âa catâ is noun phrase (a is determiner indefinite article, cat is head noun of noun phrase âa catâ) function as subject, âisâ copular verb in simple present tense,â a small animalâ noun phrase consist of the indefinite determiner âaâ , the adjective small , and the head noun of the noun phrase âanimalâ, the noun phrase function as subject predicative.

Differences in the meaning: the first sentence means that there was a cat and it ate the small animal "the small animal" should be mentioned before, or known to the reader, while the second sentence means that a cat is a kind of animal and it is small. We are talking generally here.

review

somer — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 18:46:10 GMT

1a) We painted the red door.

1b) We painted the door red.

1a) We painted the red door. "We" is NP consists of the head noun "we" which is pronoun functioning as subject. Painted is VP consisted of the head verb "painted" and it is past simple tense. "The red doorâ consists of NP and adj P, "the" is determiner, âred" is adj p consists of the head adjective "red" ,"door" is the head noun. âThe red door" functioning as direct object.

1b) we painted the door red. âwe" is NP consists of the head noun "we" functioning as subject. "Painted" is VP consists of the head verb "painted" and it is in the past simple tense. âThe door" is NP p consists of determiner "the" and the head noun âdoor" "the door" functioning as direct object. "Red" is adj p consists of head adjective "red" and functioning as postmodifeir.

In sentence 1a) we are talking about the door, which should be known to the reader, that its colour is red ,and we say that we painted it, but it is not known what colour we used to paint it.

In sentence 1b) we are talking about the door, which should be known to the reader too, this door is painted previously in the red colour, but it is not known what is its new colour.

2a) she does not like change.

2b) she does not like the changes.

Both sentences have the same syntactic analyse (s, v, do) and both of them are negated sentences, the differences lie in the objects "changeâ in the first sentence is undefined while "the object "change" in the second sentence is defined with the definite article "theâ, the object in sentence 2a is singular while the object in the sentence 2b is plural marks with "s".

The first sentence 2a) means that she doesn't like the coin (small money), while in the second sentence we are talking about "the changes" that should be known to the reader which mean the actions of changing something making it different.

is there any comment on the answers?

Re: Article before restaurant names

Anonymous — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 01:28:29 GMT

Thank you. If I take out the possessive part of the name "***'s" and have the generic word/noun "restaurant" in small letter intact, then should I put the definite article "the" or indefinite article "a" in front of it?

Where is the/a?? Chinese Take-Out restaurant?

Can I say this?

Where is Chinese Take-Out? -- I think you would say 'yes' since the name here is considered unique. Right?

Pasted from part of your answer:

Where is the ***'s Chinese Take-Out restaurant? Remove the. Both the and the possessive are determiners. Only one determiner is allowed before a noun.

What types of phrase have been underlined?

ericsteef — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 17:45:46 GMT

I answered this question i just need someone check my answer and tell me if there a mistake and what is the correction of it.

What types of phrase have been underlined? Analyse the phrases and give information about what elements they contain and what sort of words they consist of.

Hercule Poirot made his first appearance in The Mysterious Affair at Styles, Participial Phrase called upon by his friend Hastings, to solve a most mysterious murder. This Belgian refugee from the First World War began his career as a police officer - Christie felt it only fitting that he had a professional background as it would explain his knowledge of police proceedings when he later became a private detective. He began his private career on the continent, which is where he formed his lifelong friendship with Hastings.

Poirot would be the first to call himself a great man - he has never been known for his modesty - but with such success in his career he is quite justified in his opinion! He finishes each case with a dramatic dÃ©nouement, satisfying his own ego and confirming to all, that he is truly âthe greatest mind in Europe.â His love of elegance, beauty, and precision, as well as his eccentric mannerisms are often ridiculed by the local bumbling policemen, but it is always Poirot who has the last word!

Christie's inspiration for Poirot lay behind the Belgian refugees who had escaped the war and made their home in the Parish of Torre. Christie had seen how the locals had opened their arms to them and how some, not understanding the British way of life, preferred to do things their own way. Christie decided to make Poirot more mature, a decision she would later regret; âthe result is that my fictional detective is well over a hundred by now.â

But not even Christie could ever have imagined how popular Poirot would become, nor how many stories she would write about him. He would star in thirty-three novels and fifty-four short stories, including some of Christieâs best such as Murder on the Orient Express, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd and Death on the Nile.

Poirot deserves his place in crime fiction history and this was certainly achieved on his death in 1975; Poirot became the only fictional character in history to be honoured with an obituary on the front of The New York Times!

(Adapted from the official Agatha Christie page (http://uk.agathachristie.com)

a professional background:

it is NP âaâ is indefinite article function as determiner.âProfessionalâ is adjective,â

a professionalâ is a premodifier of the noun phrase, âbackground âis the head noun of the noun phrase.

2-Christie's inspiration for Poirot :

it is NP âChristieâsâ is noun of the noun phrase form functions as Premodifier ,â inspirationâ the head noun of the noun phrase âfor Poirotâ i

2-Christie's inspiration for Poirot :

it is NP âChristieâsâ is noun of the noun phrase form functions as Premodifier ,â inspirationâ the head noun of the noun phrase âfor Poirotâ is Prep: P âforâ preposition âPoirotâ noun and all the phrase âfor Poirotâ is the postmodifeir of the noun phrase.

3-More mature:

adjective phrase in its comparative form consists of âmoreâ determiner function as premodifier of the adjective phrase and âmatureâ adjective is the head of the adjective phrase.

Could have imagined:

verb phrase consists of, âcouldâ modal auxiliary verb, âhaveâ grammatical auxiliary, imagined stative verb in past participle form and all the phrase in the present perfective tense.

In thirty-three novels:

prepositional phrase consists of preposition âinâ,â thirty three" Post determinerâ âNovelsâ is the head noun of the noun phrase.

Re: adjectives to denote people, a thing and use as a pronoun

Anonymous — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 00:36:37 GMT

Hi,

I think Mr.M said something like we use adjectives after a definite article in place of a pronoun in a lot of cases. I remember his example went something like this:

In a bar:

What would you have it? Or what would you like to have?
The usual...

Re: indefinite article before proper name

AlpheccaStars — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 18:46:16 GMT

mikado
He is a Mr. Godfrey Norton, of the Inner Temple. (Sir A. Conan Doyle. Sherlock Holmes: A Scandal in Bohemia)

In older literature, the pronoun "one" or the indefinite article was used before a person's name when the character was first introduced to the reader. The setting usually was a conversation between two people talking about the third character.

It's an old British literary device that seems old-fashioned to me...

Person A; Do you see that man over there, in the tweed jacket?

Person B: Ah, yes, he is one Mr. Norton, of St. George Street.

I would need more context to explain the second clip.

Re: Uncountable noun

Gostiya — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 13:11:55 GMT

Hello..let me try to answer your question..
An abstract noun (countable/uncountable) may be used with an indefinite article when a certain aspect of the notion denoted by the noun is meant. And the indefinite article expresses a certain kind of quality, emotion, state.
AN mostly has a descriptive attribute in such cases. Also a certain aspect of notion denoted by the noun gives a stylisic effect to the indefinite article making a description more vivid.

Thus, as I understand it, DEMEANOUR can be of different types. And obviously the author used it with the indefinite article for the purpose to emphasize that SHE chose to maintain the demeanour that's professional, not playful or any other.

P.S. There are always such peculiar examples that contradict all the rules known.