Search results for 'tag:Singular nouns tag:Articles' matching tags 'Singular nouns' and 'Articles'

Re: Two infinitives

CalifJim — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 20:56:17 GMT

Fandorin
I'm freaking out about articles.

It's not just you! A lot of learners have trouble with this aspect of English!

Here are a few principles you might keep in mind. (It is not a comprehensive list!)

As a first approximation or default strategy, use the with every concrete noun, because most of the time you know which person(s), which substance(s), which thing(s), or which place(s) you're referring to. Knowing which is what triggers the.

The sugar is on the table. The phone rang. The men poured the cement into the molds. The bus went from the post office to the bank. The boys walked on the sand. The children played on the lawn. The president signed the documents.

______

Don't use any article with unmodified abstract nouns, for example, faith, space, wisdom, happiness (in fact almost all the -ness words), etc. [Note that it makes no sense to say you know which wisdom or which happiness you're talking about, so the is not appropriate.]

Treat others with kindness. Love and hate are powerful emotions. Wisdom comes with time.

______

Don't use any article with proper nouns. John, Mr. Smith, etc. [This one is easy; you probably know it well already.]

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For a single person or object, use a (or an) if you aren't saying which person or object you're talking about, but are just talking about any one of them, it doesn't matter which one. (You might not be saying which one because you don't know which one or because you don't want to tell which one or because it's not important which one.) Note that a/an can be paraphrased as a certain or any, it doesn't matter which.

I saw a man with a red raincoat today. (I saw a certain man, it doesn't matter which man, with a certain red raincoat, it doesn't matter which raincoat. This suggests that I've never seen this man before, nor this raincoat.)

Compare:

I saw the man with the red raincoat today. (I saw that man whom we already know about with that red raincoat which we already know about. This suggests that on previous occasions I've seen the same man wearing the same raincoat.)

______

For substances (uncountables), use no article at all to indicate it doesn't matter which. (These are singular nouns.)

Add sugar if you like it sweeter. (Not any particular sugar. Just any sugar you can find.)

Peter threw water on the fire. (Not any particular water. Just any water that Peter was able to find.)

Do you like chocolate? (Not this piece of chocolate or that piece of chocalate, but chocolate in general.)

I need money to pay the rent. (Not the money that you have; not the money that George has; not the money that Jane has; but any money at all, it doesn't matter which money it is.)

______

Plurals follow the same general pattern as substances. Don't use an article if you're not saying which persons or things you're talking about. You're talking about "anonymous" things.

We used bricks to make the path. (No indication of which bricks. It doesn't matter which bricks. It's not as if you've identified these bricks as a special group of bricks. They're "anonymous".)

Joseph reads books and magazines in his spare time. (No indication of which books or which magazines. It doesn't matter which. We don't identify these books and magazines as a special group. They're "anonymous".)

I bought tomatoes for the salad. (No indication of which tomatoes. It doesn't matter which. They are "anonymous" tomatoes.)

______

Post your sentences, and we'll take a look at them.

superative and article

Anonymous — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 02:55:39 GMT

Hi,
I am wonder if I have to place the definite article before a phrase that has a superative in front or before another word. Normally, I figure a definite noun is necessary if a singular noun/word? is involved, ie I need the best/strongest man to lift this table, but if we have 'men' instead of 'man' or 'people', do we must have to put the definite article?

I need the best/strongest men/people to ...

One more question: Does the word 'ultimate' need a definite article if a singluar noun is involved? It looks to be functioning like the word 'top' which no definite article is needed for a singular noun, IMO. Can you think of several more words like 'top'?

ultimate climbers
the ultimate climber

Re: article

CalifJim — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 01:51:53 GMT

Cool Breeze
However, what you have made a mistake with in my humble opinion is that the indefinite article isn't used with uncountable nouns. The defintite article (the) can be used with all nouns.

Yes, yes, yes. I know that. Maybe I used the wrong words to express what I was trying to say. Maybe I should have said it as follows:

Only an uncountable noun can be used without an article (if it's singular).

The formulation in sea uses no article.

Therefore it treats sea as uncountable.

But I know for a fact that, on the contrary, sea is countable.

Therefore, in sea is wrong (because it contains a countable singular noun being used without an article).

_____

The argument, I'll admit, doesn't specify which article (a or the) will fix what's wrong.

Does this explanation make it clearer what I was getting at?

(Thanks for responding. Sorry about the e-mail problem.

There should be a list on the right with your latest discussions, by the way. Maybe that will help. )

Re: Is this sentence correct

Mr Wordy — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 19:43:19 GMT

wholegrain
When we use a singular noun to refer to many instances of the thing we are referring to (or to use for the entire class of such things), it may be uncountable and countable still depending on the definition we use of the word in question?

I'm not sure if you're asking whether the same noun that refers to many instances or a general class can be either countable or uncountable, or whether you're talking about different nouns. In the latter case yes. For example, "traffic" is uncountable; "flock" (of birds) is countable. In the former case, potentially also yes, but examples are harder to think of. "Population" is the best candidate I can come up with right now.

wholegrain
For instance man would be uncountable as it may refer to mankind, therefore it doesn't take any article.

That's correct. If "man" (often "Man") means "mankind" then it is uncountable and does not take an article.

wholegrain
However, in the case of church or state, they always take an article, because of their definition: their definitions making them countable and not uncountable?

"church" meaning the building is countable and takes an article ("I live opposite a church"). "church" can be uncountable, with no article, in the sense I illustrated before.

"state" is normally countable.

"the state" and "the church" (sometimes capitalised as "the State" or "the Church") can also be used in the abstract sense of "the institution". For example:

They can do this because the State decrees it so.

This is a grey area to me in terms as far as terminology is concerned. I'm not sure if "State" here would be classed as a countable noun, or whether it falls outside the countable/uncountable noun classification system.

Re: Is this sentence correct

wholegrain — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 17:38:49 GMT

Ok, but still one last thing is quite confusing to me.

Because I found this passage on wikipedia:

"Common nouns may be capitalized when used as names for the entire class of such things, e.g. what a piece of work is Man. French often capitalizes such nouns as l'Ãtat (the state) and l'Ãglise (the church) when not referring to specific ones."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitalization#Nouns

When we use a singular noun to refer to many instances of the thing we are referring to (or to use for the entire class of such things), it may be uncountable and countable still depending on the definition we use of the word in question?

For instance man would be uncountable as it may refer to mankind, therefore it doesn't take any article.

However, in the case of church or state, they always take an article, because of their definition: their definitions making them countable and not uncountable?

Re: Is

Cute572 — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 21:28:54 GMT

Yes I am little confuse now in between articles.

Mr. Wordy what if i used sheet and mattress for the 1st time. Article A won't look like repeating or odd ?

Its wooden frame supports a bouncy mattress and is completely covered with a silky sheet like a sponge cake layered with cream.

And some times we use "the" without repeating that noun or subject, like in previous sentence:

The daffodil patterns on the sheet are brightened by the sun's glowing rays, and natureâs color seems to blend with the printed colors.

I have mention sun's rays for the first time.

Any particular point i should remaind following articles. I know A used with singular noun An with vowels and The with specifics. But I don't know much about articles rules in paragraphs.

And Thanks for helping me out

Re: logic behind using 'the'

CalifJim — Mon, 19 May 2008 17:09:22 GMT

There are times when you have to omit an article.

The two you marked are cases where the article should not be used. Both are used as non-count singular nouns.

the word "lack" countable or uncountable

Anonymous — Fri, 09 May 2008 01:35:16 GMT

Hi there,

I am from an asian country (korea) and Korean doesn't distinguish countable or uncountable nouns so I have some problem with this concept even though I have been living in english speaking country for 10 years.

Now the word "lack" according to the online Longman dictionary is an uncountable noun, as well as a singular noun.

But we usually say "a lack of quality" or "a lack of resources".

Now we know for sure we never put "a" in front of "water" because "water" is an uncountable noun, as in "furniture" or "stuff".

So how is it that word "lack" can have an indefinite article in front of it?

Does it mean that the English language lacks logic inherently?

Thanks.

Re: in quotation marks

Clive — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 21:09:54 GMT

Hi,

Should I treat what is in a pair of quotation marks just like an adjective without any difference in terms of whether to place an article or not? Yes.

I feel like you have to have an article, 'a' or 'the' or 'an', before a quoted content acting as an adjective for a singular noun. With a singular countable noun, yes, you need some kind of determiner.

... reveals an aspect of 'pali-pali' Korean culture. This is fine.

-- The 'culture' is an uncountable, I think. Yes.

Best wishes, Clive

in quotation marks

Anonymous — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 20:06:36 GMT

Hi,

Should I treat what is in a pair of quotation marks just like an adjective without any difference in terms of whether to place an article or not? I feel like you have to have an article, 'a' or 'the' or 'an', before a quoted content acting as an adjective for a singular noun.

... reveals an aspect of 'pali-pali' Korean culture. -- The 'culture' is an uncountable, I think.