Search results for 'tag:Tenses tag:Uncountable nouns' matching tags 'Tenses' and 'Uncountable nouns'

check sentences please

Anonymous — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 22:48:16 GMT

Hi,

1. We are going to hold/have discussio (or - a discussion?) on this matter now. -- I konw that a certain word trigger a need for a countable or a uncountable noun. Is this one of those cases?

2. Can you be able to take care of this?

3. I hope you would be able to take of this right away. -- what comes after 'hope' is normally a present or fututre tense?

4. Can you fix this handle of the door (or - handle to the door?)? - when is 'handle to the door' is good and when is "handle of the door" is good?
He went in by the main door of (to??) the house.

When a present participle is not one

Avangi — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 16:59:09 GMT

Hi,

Something seems amiss in the category structure. My understanding used to be that the dictionary entry for a verb begins with the (bare) infinitive, and is typically followed by the present and past participles, and then the present 3rd person singular, or something like that. I always thought of these as building blocks in the formation of different tenses and other forms.

I have no problem calling the present participle a gerund when it serves as a noun, although I formerly thought "gerund" had a much broader definition. But why does it have to stop being the present participle? The infinitive is still the infinitive, regardless of which of several uses it's put to.

If they insist on doing this, why don't they come up with a correspondingly neat name for the present participle when it serves as an adjective?

It seems very strange indeed to say that the present participle cannot serve as the subject of a sentence, when I can see it doing so with my own eyes.

Can anyone justify this unbalanced treatment?? I've been hoping for an epiphany for several months now, and I'm about to give up. To me, it's like saying that an uncountable noun is not singular because "singular" has to do with countables. (This position recently held in a thread)

present participle as noun = (gerund)
present participle as adjective = (??????)

Best wishes, - A.

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.

Mistakes made by Chinese Learners

Anonymous — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 14:30:26 GMT

Hi everyone

I just wondered if anyone could help - I have to write a profile of a chinese learner of English (completely made up). In it I must put any difficulties that the learner has in learning English as an L2. I have got so far:

Intonation transfer from L1 may cause them to be perceived as rude/inconsiderate, more serious transfer may affect comprehensiveness.
No inflections in L1 - tenses difficult to learn in L2 as L1 has no true tenses and concept of time is expressed by adverbs/implicit or contextual assumptions.
Difficulty distinguishing [r] & - Does anyone know why this is as I can't find a reason?!!
Prepositions such as 'on', 'in' & 'at' have one chinese translation in many contexts, 'zai' - may be confused resulting in phrases such as 'on Taiwan' instead of 'in Taiwan'.
Use of awkward gerunds e.g. 'no noising', excessive use of verbs ending in 'ing' e.g. 'do not climbing', confusion of 'ed' & 'ing' verbs e.g. 'i am bored' vs 'i am boring' --- all of these errors occur because verbs are not conjugated in chinese, for tense or pronoun.
No equivalent word for 'the' so may be used excessively when not needed e.g. 'The China' or missed out when needed. May also be confused with 'a'/'an'.
Confusion over countable and uncountable nouns, use of 'how much?' vs 'how many?' - leads to phrases such as 'I want a soup' & 'a lot of shoe'. This is due to there not being plurals in chinese - no inflections.

Switching between 'he' & 'she' - Does anyone know why this is?

If anyone can think of anymore it would be greatly appreciated or if anyone knows the answers to my questions about gender switching and distinguishing [r] & this would also help a lot!!

Thank you in advance.

Shannon

Re: tense-hadn't

Yankee — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 19:50:35 GMT

Newguest wrote:
HI
HI !

IS IT REALLY A BIG MISTAKE TO PUT A COMMA AFTER "ALI?" It is a little mistake.

WHY CAN'T WE SAY "A BAD LUCK" The word 'luck' is uncountable. You cannot use 'a' with an uncountable noun. You can say something such as 'a bit of bad luck' or 'some bad luck', however.

I WROTE "TODAY" AT THE END OF THE SENTENCE CAUSE, BUT MAYBE I'M WRONG, HE'S STILL ALIVE, THAT'S WHY I WROTE "HE WOULD SUFFER"

I KNOW THERE IS SOMETHING LIKE MIXED CONDITIONALS. I WROTE "HE HADN'T BEEN A BOXER" BECAUSE HE'S NOT ONE ANY MORE, That doesn't change the fact that you have begun a Type III conditional. The unchangeable fact is that he was a boxer and therefore the condition ("wasn't/hadn't been a boxer") is impossible to fulfil -- whether or not he is still a boxer is basically irrelevant. AND "HE WOULD SUFFER" CAUSE HE'S STILL ALIVE. As I see it, the problem with "would suffer" in your sentence is that, even with the word 'today' added, it could be interpretted as a reference to only now and the future.

THANKS

By the way, typing in all CAPITAL letters is known as "shouting" and is often seen as UNFRIENDLY.

shared or discrete

Believer — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 08:53:14 GMT

Hi,

Sometimes I see phrasal cases where adjectives in front of a noun seem to warrant it to be plural but ends up being the case of shared adjectives. Is this one? Can you help me to clearly distinguish similar situations?

both singular and plural tense -- When should 'tense' be 'tenses'?

both countable and uncountable noun -- Can it be used to note a variable noun? Can it create confusion in the mind of someone who unfortunately is not in grasp of the notion of a variable noun (by having the singular word 'noun' rather than the plural word 'nouns'?

Re: lots of tought (to me) questions...will there be a good soul ;) ?

Grammar Geek — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 22:25:41 GMT

1. Here is a sentence from the key "But I hope you know what you're doing" I'm wondering... Can we say "I'm hoping" or rather not? and is it totally incorrect or in other contexts it would be ok? Grammatically it's okay, but "I hope" sounds more natural to me at the moment.

2. Just tell me if I'm right or not. The verb "to recognise" cannot have the gerund form, can it? Sure it can. After that terrible blow to his head left Petr without any memory, his recognizing his wife is a good sign.

3. "I can see from what you say that your mornings are very busy! But what do you do in the afternoons?"

a) could it be "...from what you are saying..." ? and what's the difference between these two? That's fine. No big difference that I can find.
b) If I wanted to ask about something temporary or someone's plans could I ask "What are you DOING in the afternoons" or not? Sure. With your wife away all week, what are you doing with your evenings? Can you come over and play some poker?

4. "Emerson is currently top of the driver's league" - why is there no "at" before "top" ? I don't know - I would have said "at the top" but I'm not familiar with the driver's league, so perhaps I'm not reading this correctly.

5. "The food tastes even worse now. You have put too much salt in" - why is there no "it" after "in" ? It's implied.

6. "I'm forever picking you hairs out of the bath!" your hairs.

a) why "hairs" instead of "hair" ? I always thought that "hair" is an uncountable noun..."Your hair" is that mass on top of your head and is uncountable. "Your hairs" are more than one of those individual strands that have fallen out.
b) why "forever" ??? what does it mean ??? does it mean "always" ? Yes, I keep having to do it over and over.

7. "Fortunately the baby now sleeps all night" - shouldn't "now" be at the end of the sentence? It can move around - I think it's fine there and really draws attention to the fact that it's a change from "before."

8. "I hear that you have been promoted!"

a) I don't understand why there is "hear" in the present tense instead of something like "heard" or "have heard" Does "hear" is equall in meaning with "heard" ? It's a very recent "learning." "I hear" in the present like this means "it's being discussed and I heard it."
b) what's the difference between "heard" and " have heard" ?

9. "I hope Sarah will be here soon. I'm depending on her" How is it different from "I depend on her" ? Any change of meaning? Yes, "I'm depending on her" means that you need her now, for this project. "I depend on her" is a habitual or ongoing need.

10. Tricky thing What is the difference between:

a) speak to
b) talk to
c) speak with
d) talk with

For example, I always have doubts whether to say "May I speak to..." or "May I speak with..." or "May I talk to..." or "May I talk with..." On the phone, they are quite similar, espcially if the same polite tone is used. Do a search on here on speak and talk and you'll find this discussed a lot.

11. "Jane is away on holiday." Does the word "holiday" has always the same form? Or maybe it can be used with -s ? "holidayS" ? Do a search on here for this one too.

12. Roght or wrong - the verb "to suspect" cannot be used like : "I'm suspecting her" ,can it? You can, but it's not that common. It means you suspect her now, but not recently, and you don't think you will later.

13. "I'm seeing how wide the door is"

a) hmm... "seeing" ??? what does it mean? You are in the process of measuring it, right then.
b) "door" or "doors" ? I don't know - are there two doors?

14. "I'm finding it really enjoyable to work here" Why not "I find it..." Any difference in meaning? Perhaps if it's a new job? You haven't had time to make this "finding" a permenent or habitual feeling.

15. How do you feel today? VS How are you feeling today? I don't see much difference.

16. Does the word "trouble" have the "troubles" form? and in what contexts? (which?) Yes, when you have distinct kinds of trouble. Man trouble, money trouble, job trouble - You face many troubles.

17. Is this sentence OK? "I'm wondering... Can we say "I'm hoping" or rather not? and is it totally incorrect or in other contexts it would be ok?" Sorry, I'm not sure what you're asking here.

Have I done any mistakes/errors in the above points? Perhaps you could post fewer at a time?

lots of tought (to me) questions...will there be a good soul ;) ?

Forum_mail — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 22:08:36 GMT

Hi folks! I know that I have A LOT OF questions... but I hope someone can at least take a look at them... let's start.

I've got some dobuts about the following :
(all examples come from Michael Vince's 'Advanced Language Practice')

1. Here is a sentence from the key "But I hope you know what you're doing" I'm wondering... Can we say "I'm hoping" or rather not? and is it totally incorrect or in other contexts it would be ok?

2. Just tell me if I'm right or not. The verb "to recognise" cannot have the gerund form, can it?

3. "I can see from what you say that your mornings are very busy! But what do you do in the afternoons?"

a) could it be "...from what you are saying..." ? and what's the difference between these two?
b) If I wanted to ask about something temporary or someone's plans could I ask "What are you DOING in the afternoons" or not?

4. "Emerson is currently top of the driver's league" - why is there no "at" before "top" ?

5. "The food tastes even worse now. You have put too much salt in" - why is there no "it" after "in" ?

6. "I'm forever picking you hairs out of the bath!"

a) why "hairs" instead of "hair" ? I always thought that "hair" is an uncountable noun...
b) why "forever" ??? what does it mean ??? does it mean "always" ?

7. "Fortunately the baby now sleeps all night" - shouldn't "now" be at the end of the sentence?

8. "I hear that you have been promoted!"

a) I don't understand why there is "hear" in the present tense instead of something like "heard" or "have heard" Does "hear" is equall in meaning with "heard" ?
b) what's the difference between "heard" and " have heard" ?

9. "I hope Sarah will be here soon. I'm depending on her" How is it different from "I depend on her" ? Any change of meaning?

10. Tricky thing What is the difference between:

a) speak to
b) talk to
c) speak with
d) talk with

For example, I always have doubts whether to say "May I speak to..." or "May I speak with..." or "May I talk to..." or "May I talk with..."

11. "Jane is away on holiday." Does the word "holiday" has always the same form? Or maybe it can be used with -s ? "holidayS" ?

12. Roght or wrong - the verb "to suspect" cannot be used like : "I'm suspecting her" ,can it?

13. "I'm seeing how wide the door is"

a) hmm... "seeing" ??? what does it mean?
b) "door" or "doors" ?

14. "I'm finding it really enjoyable to work here" Why not "I find it..." Any difference in meaning?

15. How do you feel today? VS How are you feeling today?

16. Does the word "trouble" have the "troubles" form? and in what contexts? (which?)

17. Is this sentence OK? "I'm wondering... Can we say "I'm hoping" or rather not? and is it totally incorrect or in other contexts it would be ok?"

Have I done any mistakes/errors in the above points?

Thanks for your patience... Take care folks!

Re: Cheers, what else?

Yoong Liat — Mon, 23 Oct 2006 18:26:12 GMT

Since I write to my friend almost every day I thought that I could write "I use to write" while "I used" means that I don't write mails anymore ....not quite sure if it is correct though " src="/emoticons/emotion-4.gif">

I used to write refers to what you wrote in the past. I use to write is not the present tense of I used to write.

We can write 'emails', but not 'mails' because 'mail' is an uncountable noun.

Re: A small correction

Aperisic — Mon, 04 Sep 2006 09:24:50 GMT

I took these points up, not so much because they relate to Canada, but because I'm concerned that the examples we offer to the people who are trying to learn from reading this Forum should be both as natural and as correct as possible.

I am doing my best - but I can't promise this to anyone.The people who read this forum must bear in mind that they should read this as one good reference, not the perfect source of answers. There is none. Many grammar books I read do not pay attention to much more serious things, but they are still useful. However, that does not mean that we should write everything around. Because I though advices is not so important to talk about it much longer, I just sketched a sample similar to those I found in the real-life world. I simply cannot expect from myself to have a hard concentration all time long. Neither I promise so. Far more important things I failed in my life for lack of concentration. I am in this forum only because some people expressed the attitude that what I know was helpful to them. If that stops any time soon I'll cancel my visits. I do have better things to do in my life.

If something is archaic, extremely uncommon, or essentially a form of jargon, I believe learners need to have that pointed out to them very clearly. In fact, in some such cases, for myself I'd question whether such matters need to be brought up at all.

This I think depends on how complex things are. I thought that people might still find advices with certain governmental subjects, which is far more common for foreigners to meet.

I have to admit that if I found advices I would probably think forever that what I learnt i.e. that advice is an uncountable noun was wrong or that my memory cheated on me. (For those who read this it is an uncountable word but there is one other rare and more formal usage that is countable. It is mentioned here for your safety. I doubt you will ever use it as countable, there are far better replacements, but your government might.) Thus I explained both. Just in case.

P.S. I still have to think carefully when I want to say: lay, lie or lie, though some of the tenses or forms of these verbs are almost never used. Unfortunately that will be so for the rest of my life.