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

Re: what could come after a preposition?

CalifJim — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 19:27:38 GMT

The only thing that can come after a preposition to form a prepositional phrase is a noun phrase, usually a noun accompanied by its preceding determiner and perhaps an adjective. A relative clause may be added. The noun itself may be a gerund.

If the element after the candidate for a preposition looks like it's not a noun, then either of these holds:

a. The preposition candidate is not a preposition, but perhaps an adverb or conjunction.
b. The structure after the preposition candidate actually is a noun phrase.

Both of your examples are in the category labeled b.

In your first example bad should be viewed as an adjective used as a noun, 'promoted' to a noun because of the elision of situation or its equivalent, one.

The situation can be seen as a bad situation.
The situation can be seen as a bad one.

In your second example, bad and good are simply abstract uncountable nouns meaning that which is bad and that which is good, respectively.

CJ

Re: Which one is correct? (conditional clause)

Yoong Liat — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 19:01:22 GMT

Goodman wrote:
Yoong Liat wrote:
Neeraj Jain wrote:

Hi Goodman,

I guess that you cannot use "troubles". The right word is "trouble".

Goodman wrote:
Jain is saying that you should use 'trouble' , not 'troubles'.

Trouble is usually an uncountable noun. Are you having trouble with your car?

get/run into trouble (Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English)

Your troubles are your worries: Sit down and forget your troubles (OR problems) for a minute.
(also extracted from the above dictionary)

If you ~~face~~ run into troubles, call me.

I see nothing wrong with "troubles"

Trouble is usually an uncountable noun. Are you having trouble with your car?

get/run into trouble (Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English)

Based on the above extract from Longman Dictionary, I would say that it should 'trouble'. (uncountable noun)

Re: Which one is correct? (conditional clause)

Goodman — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 18:46:36 GMT

Yoong Liat wrote:
Neeraj Jain wrote:

Hi Goodman,

I guess that you cannot use "troubles". The right word is "trouble".

Goodman wrote:
Jain is saying that you should use 'trouble' , not 'troubles'.

Trouble is usually an uncountable noun. Are you having trouble with your car?

get/run into trouble (Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English)

Your troubles are your worries: Sit down and forget your troubles (OR problems) for a minute.
(also extracted from the above dictionary)

If you ~~face~~ run into troubles, call me.

I see nothing wrong with "troubles"

Re: Which one is correct? (conditional clause)

Yoong Liat — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 18:35:21 GMT

Neeraj Jain wrote:
Hi Goodman,

I guess that you cannot use "troubles". The right word is "trouble".

Goodman wrote: If you ~~face~~ run into troubles, call me.

Jain is saying that you should use 'trouble' , not 'troubles'.

Trouble is usually an uncountable noun. Are you having trouble with your car?

get/run into trouble (Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English)

Your troubles are your worries: Sit down and forget your troubles (OR problems) for a minute.
(also extracted from the above dictionary)

Re: Which one is correct? (conditional clause)

Goodman — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 17:33:03 GMT

Yoong Liat wrote:
Neeraj Jain wrote:

Hi Goodman,

I guess that you cannot use "troubles". The right word is "trouble".

Hi Jain

I agree with you.

Trouble is usually an uncountable noun. Are you having trouble /[troubless]with your car? Plural is also fine.

get/run into trouble

Your troubles are your worries: Sit down and forget your troubles (OR problems) for a minute.

(Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English)

Hi Liat,

If I were to gather an impression of your comments, I am picking up some contradiction in your examples. You agreed with Jain in the opening but you also recited some examples in plural. Can you elaborate?

Re: Which one is correct? (conditional clause)

Yoong Liat — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 17:16:08 GMT

Neeraj Jain wrote:

Hi Goodman,

I guess that you cannot use "troubles". The right word is "trouble".

Hi Jain

I agree with you.

Trouble is usually an uncountable noun. Are you having trouble with your car?

get/run into trouble

Your troubles are your worries: Sit down and forget your troubles (OR problems) for a minute.

(Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English)

Re: Does it ring the same to you?

Clive — Wed, 01 Nov 2006 01:01:23 GMT

Hi,

Unfakeable demonstrations of a superiority that has as least some underlying genetic component are almost unfailingly attractive to the opposite sex.

1. Does 'a' there indicate it is a special kind of superiority and not the superiority in the general sense? Yes

2. Would you say if one replaces with the article 'the', the original intention of the writer might get distorted? Yes

3. Is this kind of thing normal in the world of English writing -- taking an uncountable noun with a restrictive clause following it to change its nature(?) simply by one very tiny stroke of pen which resulted in inserting/putting a one-word determiner? It's not unusual. eg 'With you, I have found a happiness that I have never known before."

Best wishes, Clive

Does it ring the same to you?

Believer — Tue, 31 Oct 2006 23:48:45 GMT

Hi,

How2die had this sentence in his post and I want to ask some questions on it. You can kindly give a general answer that will encompass all or answer individually.

Unfakeable demonstrations of a superiority that has as least some underlying genetic component are almost unfailingly attractive to the opposite sex.

1. Does 'a' there indicate it is a special kind of superiority and not the superiority in the general sense?

2. Would you say if one replaces with the article 'the', the original intention of the writer might get distorted?

Re: the cases of abstract nouns taking "thes"

Mister Micawber — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 10:25:33 GMT

There is a difference between a clause (the term you used previously) and a phrase ('of the Princess of Bigman's land').

anything we should be aware of when we decide to take that road of turning uncountable nouns into sort of countable nouns?

Only be aware that you are creating one of several sorts of the uncountable, I suppose.

Re: the cases of abstract nouns taking "thes"

Mister Micawber — Sat, 09 Sep 2006 13:43:57 GMT

Well, your example (A beauty of the Princess of Bigman's land is exquisite) makes no sense to me. Is that your creation, or did you find it somewhere? It contains no restrictive clause.

In any case, I see no problem with constructing a sentence with an indefinitely-articled uncountable noun-- the trouble is, that action automatically turns it into its countable form: A beauty of the new Nissan is its small turning radius. (With a restrictive clause: A beauty of the new Nissan that I test-drove yesterday is its small turning radius.)

Does that help?