Search results for 'tag:Indefinite articles' matching tag 'Indefinite articles'

Re: after the fact

Ant_222 — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 22:25:16 GMT

And here's the context, by which I'd even suppose the indefinite article should have been used before "video":

http://forum.digital-digest.com/showthread.php?t=86179

Re: A sequel to an article before a gerund question

Anonymous — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 22:25:48 GMT

Hi,

I think I have seen more than enough cases where what people call a verbal noun has the indefinite article 'a' in front of it and at the very least, the sheer number (should it be - sheer numbrs??) of it warrants some good explanations from experts in this forum. I think I can laid out a similar framework of argument for a quoted content too.

These days, students from where I use to live don't study hard. A lot of people seem to feel "sit in your chair and do nothing for eight hours" should be replaced with a quality "sit-in-your-chair-and-do-some-work hours." -- I think I made into a type. I was trying to make it an instance of it though. Do you think all the hyphens in quote in allowed? I think Mr. M said we should use either a hyphen or quotation marks, but usually not both.

I must say, the indefinite article "a" doesn't seem to go well with "hours" in the quotes but see nothing wrong with it, IMO.

A sequel to an article before a gerund question

Anonymous — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 08:08:37 GMT

Hi,

Can you please tell me why a person use an indefinite article before a gerund/verbal noun?

I think here people are making an instance of all the gerund/verbal noun "a playing" and not making types of it. Like I have said in the thread named "indefinite article before a gerund," I think native speakers have choices when confronted with the dilemma like this (if we could call it a dilemma); they can make an instance of the gerund/verbal noun or types of it. I think making instances (that is 'separate occurances") is what has been done for these sentences I copied (pasted??) from a Google Book search.

The New Guide to Recorded Music: international edition - 80 íì´ì§

ì ì: Irving Kolodin - 1950 - 524 íì´ì§

German knowledge and English technical skill have produced, in the Clemens Krauss
performance, a playing of this work superlative in its richness of sound ...

ì§§ì ë°ì·ë¬¸ ë³´ê¸° - ëì ì ë³´ - ë´ ìì¬ì ì¶ê°íê¸° - ê¸°í ì¶íë³¸ ëë³´ê¸°

Judicial and Statutory Definitions of Words and Phrases

ì ì: West Publishing Company - 1904 - 7839 íì´ì§

5120 íì´ì§

"Outhouse," as used In a statute prohibiting a playing of cards for money in an
outhouse where people resort does not mean that it should be In the same ...

ë¯¸ë¦¬ë³´ê¸°ê° ììµëë¤. - ëì ì ë³´ - ë´ ìì¬ì ì¶ê°íê¸° - ê¸°í ì¶íë³¸ ëë³´ê¸°

Works of Music: An Essay in Ontology - 35 íì´ì§

ì ì: Julian Dodd - 2007 - 286 íì´ì§

For someone to perform W, she must intend to do so, and a playing of W is a
reproduction of sounds that were produced with that intention; so it follows ...

ì¼ë¶ë³´ê¸° - ëì ì ë³´ - ë´ ìì¬ì ì¶ê°íê¸° - ê¸°í ì¶íë³¸ ëë³´ê¸°

A Celebration of John F. Nash Jr.: Duke Mathematical Journal - 12 íì´ì§

ì ì: Harold W. Kuhn, John F. Nash, Louis Nirenberg, Peter Sarnak, Morris Weisfeld - 1996 - 494 íì´ì§

... the probability that a particular n-tuple of pure strategies will be employed
in a playing of the game should be the product of the probabilities ...

ì¼ë¶ë³´ê¸° - ëì ì ë³´ - ë´ ìì¬ì ì¶ê°íê¸°

America's Musical Life: A History

ì ì: Richard Crawford - 2001 - 976 íì´ì§

284 íì´ì§

... and a playing of The Star-Spangled Banner.2* Mixed with Beethoven symphonies,
Strauss waltzes, and the Midsummer Nights Dream overture, a novelty like ...

ë¯¸ë¦¬ë³´ê¸°ê° ììµëë¤. - ëì ì ë³´ - ë´ ìì¬ì ì¶ê°íê¸° - ê¸°í ì¶íë³¸ ëë³´ê¸°

Information please almanac - 36 íì´ì§

ì ì: Dan Golenpaul, John Kieran, Dan Golenpaul Associates - 1947

... might be associated with a playing of this violin and piano sonata, but their
qualities would be hard to surpass. The reproduction is outstandingly good ...

ì§§ì ë°ì·ë¬¸ ë³´ê¸° - ëì ì ë³´ - ë´ ìì¬ì ì¶ê°íê¸° - ê¸°í ì¶íë³¸ ëë³´ê¸°

The Collected Writings of Michael Snow: the Michael Snow project - 285 íì´ì§

ì ì: Michael Snow, Louise Dompierre - 1994 - 295 íì´ì§

After seeing the footage, I decided to tape separately a playing of the radio,
making a kind of Doppler effect by turning the volume down and up and ...

ì¼ë¶ë³´ê¸° - ëì ì ë³´ - ë´ ìì¬ì ì¶ê°íê¸°

A Portuguese-English dictionary - 613 íì´ì§

ì ì: James Lumpkin Taylor, Priscilla Clark Martin - 1963 - 655 íì´ì§

a playing of musical instruments; a musical rendition; a toccata. toca-viola (m.)
= TANGE-VIOLA. tocha (/.) large ornamental candle; torch, flambeau; ...

ì¼ë¶ë³´ê¸° - ëì ì ë³´ - ë´ ìì¬ì ì¶ê°íê¸° - ê¸°í ì¶íë³¸ ëë³´ê¸°

A Dictionary of the Hawaiian Language: To which is Appended an English ... - 495 íì´ì§

ì ì: Lorrin Andrews - 1865 - 559 íì´ì§

A playing of cards; gambling ; the name of a game. 2. A bag or bundle tied up
for carrying. -KAU-po-Hi-wi, s. Pu, gun, kau, to place, ...

ì ì²´ë³´ê¸° - ëì ì ë³´ - ë´ ìì¬ì ì¶ê°íê¸° - ê¸°í ì¶íë³¸ ëë³´ê¸°

The Phenomenology of Spirit Reader: Critical and Interpretive Essays - 32 íì´ì§

ì ì: Jon Bartley Stewart, Jon Stewart - 1998 - 507 íì´ì§

... excluding the latter from the true in its actuality: "Thus the life of God
and divine knowing may indeed be spoken of as a playing of love with itself; ...

ì¼ë¶ë³´ê¸° - ëì ì ë³´ - ë´ ìì¬ì ì¶ê°íê¸° - ê¸°í ì¶íë³¸ ëë³´ê¸°

Google ëìê²ì ëìë§ | ê³ ê¸ ëìê²ì

Google ëìê²ì ì ë³´ - ë°íì¸ì ìí ì ë³´ - Google í

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: When the teacher (had) arrived, they stopped talking.

Ant_222 — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 12:21:49 GMT

New2grammar
My problem with definite and indefinite articles is less than with definite/indefinite pronouns. I think I'm starting to see other and another as indefinite articles, my as definite article and mine as indefinite article.

There's no such corellation, except for "another", which is in fact "an" + "other", so dont' need to think of these words as capable of rendering a noun definite or indefinite on their own.

"Take by my hand" â how can it be definite when we don't no which hand is in question?

"Your English is better than mine" â how can it be indefinite when it's a comparison of the English skills of two people?

... And so on.

New2grammar
I have to say referring to other, another, my, mine as definite/indefinite is something new to me.

We didn't refer to this words alone. It were noun phrases buit therewith that we called definite or indefinite. And since nouns can be (in)definte, that's all right.

Re: indefinite article before a gerund

Anonymous — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 05:17:00 GMT

Thank you. Would you say the phrase "an unusally hard laying aside of something" is a case of a verbal noun with an indefnite article -- making an instance of differentiation?

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

My argument is that native speakers seem use two ways to make these kinds of verbal nouns countable: 1) by making them types and 2) by making them instances of that very verbal noun. I think people who wrote the above tidbits seemed to have employed what I call "an instance of it" tactic, where, in their perception of things, they wrote these thinking them as an instance of each of them; and it seems that they didn't have to make have certain sententical context that will make differentiation possible -- as the following:

(borrowed from Google Search tidbits)

a painfullly hard-on-your-eyes watching of the cloud and pillar
an unusally complicated mixing of the systems
an acute, fervent shouting of patrotic sentiments that went on that day ...

Re: When the teacher (had) arrived, they stopped talking.

New2grammar — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 12:56:37 GMT

My problem with definite and indefinite articles is less than with definite/indefinite pronouns. I think I'm starting to see other and another as indefinite articles, my as definite article and mine as indefinite article.

I have to say referring to other, another, my, mine as definite/indefinite is something new to me.

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: When the teacher (had) arrived, they stopped talking.

New2grammar — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 08:51:10 GMT

I thought when we speak of definite or indefinite, we talk about the definite and indefinite articles, the, an,a

my other book is definite

another book of mine is indefinite

I can stretch definition of definite-indefinite to cover the above. Anotehr book of mine can be any book of all the books that I own whereas my other book is specific in teh sense that it's the one of a total of two books that I own that I haven't mentioned.

other books of mine is indefinite??? The remaining books that I own should be definite/specific. I have mentioned one book, the rest of my book collection is what this phrase refers to. It's specific (definite)

Sorry that I'm asking such a basic grammar rule. Please help

indefinite article before a gerund

Anonymous — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 07:44:30 GMT

Hi,

I think native speakers go about making something like a gerund or content in parentheses with the thoughts in mind that a tactic of makig it a type or instance is possible.

eg,
discussion
a discussion -- an instance of discussion, thus countable
shampoo
a dandruff shampoo -- a possible type of shampoo, thus countable; not just a certain additional adjective but special use can make it countable.

Then, a far back ago, I saw the gerund 'mixing' and I think a Guru said putting the indefinite article 'a' is possible as it could mean "an instance of" it.

a mixing of flour and sugar -- an instance of mixing of sugar and flour

Then, I saw a post by Mr. M where I think he went on hard to make a gerund a type, rather than an instance, in a case and it involved something similar to this.

an unusally hard laying aside of pressures and troubles is necessary for a person to gain composure.

My question is why did he have to go a long way to make "laying" a type where making it "an instance" would be more efficient.

I feel many writers do resort to make something countable by making that thing "an instance" of it, rather than a type of it.

An asking of this question has taken a lot of mintues. -- Did I make it countable correctly by using an "an instance of it" countable frame?