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

Re: Article usage: proper noun and uncountable noun correspondence?

Cool Breeze — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 08:57:58 GMT

1. It may be unwise to say that something can be done to all proper nouns in English because there seem to be so many exceptions to every rule. However, using a and the with proper nouns in certain contexts is normal. The of-genitive - or of structure - or whatever you prefer to call it often requires the:

the England of my dreams

An adjectival attribute is a common reason for a:

We saw a sad George Bush on television last night.

He wants to live in a different England.

2. The names of cemeteries are not listed in grammar books as requiring the. Moreover, it is normal that if a name is made up of a proper noun plus a common noun, no article is used:

Gatwick Airport, Oslo University, London Bridge, Westminster Abbey

Re: evening (without preposition) / to start to doing

Cool Breeze — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 20:51:01 GMT

CalifJim wrote:

Light from several lanterns filled the room with a soft glow.
Laughter of children was heard on the playground.

Hmm. Do these have to be The light ... and The laughter ... ?

I certainly don't want to criticize Steinbeck's English at all. I dealt with the of-genitive in my previous post and there isn't one in your first sentence, so I'll say nothing about it. Laughter of children is also different grammatically since laughter is an uncountable noun, unlike evening. I'm not saying this is always the decisive factor but in this case it seems to make the difference in the use of the article, at least to me. When laughter of children was heard, it means that some laughter was heard, not necessarily all of it, and consequently dropping the article is normal.

This is how I understand the difference and I don't mind at all if some people disagree with me.

CB

Re: Uncountable noun - genitive case

Clive — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 13:16:34 GMT

Hi,

You are not asking an easy question. The 'apostrophe ess' form is called the Saxon genitive, which is derived from 'Old English', so it's a very old feature of the English language.

It indicates possession or close association. Perhaps it's easier to see/feel close association when you are talking about something you can count?

Best wishes, Clive

Re: Uncountable noun - genitive case

Anonymous — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 09:12:57 GMT

Thank you, Clive.

Can you give me the reason why it is not attractive to form the genitive out of an uncountable noun? What is it about an uncountable noun that makes it less attractive or make it less popular in terms of its usage in the genitive form?

Re: Uncountable noun - genitive case

Anonymous — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 22:33:50 GMT

Thanks Clive.

That's an excellent example of what I was thinking about. So, I was wrong.

Re: Uncountable noun - genitive case

Clive — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 22:30:23 GMT

Hi,

You mean something like 'He stood at the water's edge'? This is fine.

Clive

Uncountable noun - genitive case

Anonymous — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 21:46:58 GMT

Is it correct that you cannot have a genetive ('s or ') case of an uncountable noun?

I think this is true but I have not seen it written anywhere.

TIA.

CSV.

Re: quiz questions

Cool Breeze — Sat, 09 Sep 2006 19:55:59 GMT

Hi Believer

In all your examples, of is not a part of the co-called of-genitive and thus does not require the.

Knowledge is an exceptional uncountable noun, it can take the indefinite article although it is never used in the plural:
He has a working knowledge of English.
I have a poor knowledge of history.

In Q3, Q5 and Q7 there is an adjectival attribute before a noun and in English such adjectives tend to bring on a or an before nouns that don't necessarily require an article in other contexts.

Cheers
CB

hypnotizersâvoice VS hypnotizersâvoiceS

spoonfedbaby — Sun, 19 Jun 2005 14:30:14 GMT

Hello,

I need help on how to put nouns in plural in genitive cases.

In my sentence "Are you talking about hypnotizersâvoice", Iâm talking about the voices of the hypnotizers. There are many hypnotizers, but each of them has only one voice. Should I write my sentence this way "Are you talking about hypnotizersâ voiceS?" "Voice" is a countable noun. Therefore, it is "voices" in plural. But a hypnotizer has only one voice.

Should I say "the hypnotizersâvoice is too low" or "the hypnotizersâvoices are too low?"

In "Ann and Donâs microphone volume is too low for me", Iâm talking about 2 volumes.
"Volume" is an uncountable noun. But we have the volume of two people. Should I write my sentence as following "Ann and Donâs microphone volumes are too low for me?"

Thank you very much

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

Re: Article usage: proper noun and uncountable noun correspondence?

Re: evening (without preposition) / to start to doing

Re: Uncountable noun - genitive case

Re: Uncountable noun - genitive case

Re: Uncountable noun - genitive case

Re: Uncountable noun - genitive case

Uncountable noun - genitive case

Re: quiz questions

hypnotizersâvoice VS hypnotizersâvoiceS

hypnotizersâvoice VS hypnotizersâvoiceS