By Expressions, Abstract nouns

Are you asking about forming a possessive by the addition of apostrope-s? If so, then here are some thoughts. I just wrote this stuff off the top of my head, so it's not meant to be any sort of definitive analysis. There is no problem with making possessives from inanimate nouns. For...

Should I just accept the fact some uncountable nouns, especially those that have abstract meanings, do not go well or don't not fit with a verb showing possession such as 'have'?Yes, you probably should accept that. It's probably a lot easier to memorize idioms with have plus a noun than to...

All of your examples are gerunds if we stick to modern terminology. Forget about the terminology verbal noun. It's total garbage! It has many different definitions, depending on the author and when the grammar book was written. _____________ The modern definition is given at...

Mister Micawber wrote:Unfortunately, these-- 'Three Happiness, Four Happiness, Five Happiness'-- sound very non-native. Though the -es plural (happinesses) may be difficult for you to pronounce, they are the only acceptable form that I am aware of. I would like to know where you discovered...

I'm not sure that "the" does anything! That is, it is simply a requirement in that expression. You are right that the indicates definiteness. Here it makes city definite; as a proper noun Toronto has no need to be made definite because it already is definite. The fact that "city" is a...

Hi, I don't mind at all. I will try to respond to your inquiry. Let me try. I think, in the expression "too much of "a" something," the phrase "too much" is functioning as a quantifying phrase of a singular definite noun (in the sentence above, it will be the word "something."). My Q: Can we...

Ihenry, Yes, as mentioned above, it's be of any help, not be any of help. Between of and the following abstract noun you can place a modifier (any, no, good, ...). We've already seen to be of good quality where good is added to to be of quality. There's another expression with good: to be...

What perplexes me is why my possibly be an idiomatic expression. It's not unusual for a dictionary not to state everything possible about each entry. Dictionaries for native speakers do not usually contain much of this information, if any. Whether a noun is countable or not, and whether...

Thank you. What perplexes me is why my doesn't state this word "location" is an abstract noun or possibly be an idiomatic expression. It said that it is a 1) countable noun and a 2) phrase (on location). In no where there, does it say that it is an abstract noun or an idiomatic expression....

Hello Hela 1) So what we call "the genitive case" is the apostrophe s and the relative whose, and the "possessive case" is any expression with of to express possession? Would you please give me sentences where we CANNOT use the 's but rather the of form? — I would use "genitive" to describe the...