re: Is It Compulsory To Use Articles, A, An, And The, With Only Countable Nouns? page 2

I don't know why the m jumped. and see them realized is what I meant to write.

Ant_222

Jackson6612Ant, you mean that even article the is used with countable nouns or the nouns which are acting as countable nouns.
Yes, but it can be used with uncountable nouns as well. Countable (along the lines of GG's example): "The happiness that he had now was something he had never experiences before".

Uncountable: "Boil a litre of water, put 25 g of tea into an earthenware pot, pour the water onto the tea".

Jackson6612And would you please give a short explanation of the underlined part

When you specify the properties of something referred to by a noun that usually has an abstract, categorical or very general meaning, that automatically changes the meaning of it so that it denotes a specific instance of that general category. For example, in GG's sentence, instead of the general happiness you have a specific happiness, experienced by a specific person.

Hi Ant,

In one of the last posts you said: What I wanted to say is, whenever the indefinite article is used, the following noun is either countable or plays a "countable" role.

Question 1:
Emphasis is on the whenever. This is the same thing I said above. Let me rephrase it again, ''even indefinite article the is used with countable nouns or the nouns which are acting as counting nouns''. So it means if some non-countable noun is acting as a countable noun then it has to be an uncountable because there are two main types of nouns: countable and uncountable. You said, pour the water onto the tea. Does that mean though water is an uncountable noun but in that particular example it is working as a countable noun?

Question 2:
You said, it denotes a specific instance of that general category. I would have written: ...it denotes a specific type/kind/sort of that general category at some particular time. Would that also mean the same thing?

Question 3:
Example: Wash it in hot water with a good detergent...
In a good detergent, ''a'' is standing along a countable noun but detergent in itself is not a countable noun. Then, what does make it a countable noun in that particular sentence?

Question 4:
Can you, please, provide me some example sentences in which there is no need to use articles with certain countable/uncountable nouns with whom articles would be used in other sentences.

Thank you for helping so patiently.

Jackson6612Let me rephrase it again, even indefinite article the is used with countable nouns or the nouns which are acting as counting nouns.

What's "indefinite article the"?

Jackson6612So it means if some non-countable noun is acting as a countable noun then it has to be an uncountable because there are two main types of nouns: countable and uncountable.

Sure. Isn't it a tautology? Dictionaries describe "happiness" as an uncountable noun, but in specific contexts (like GG's example) it may be used as a countable noun, which I have called playing a "countable" role, or, to be more correct, the role of a countable noun. So, what the dictionaries say doesn't always 100% correspond to reality.

Jackson6612You said, pour the water onto the tea. Does that mean though water is an uncountable noun but in that particular example it is working as a countable noun?

Actually I used that example to show you a usage of an uncountable noun as an uncountable noun. "The" "defines" "water". It indicates that it is not any water, but that very water that has just been boiled. Water is still uncountable here, although it is "restricted" (specific).

Jackson6612You said, it denotes a specific instance of that general category. I would have written: ...it denotes a specific type/kind/sort of that general category at some particular time. Would that also mean the same thing?

Well, I think it is a matter of one's Weltanschauung, and personally I prefer "instance" because, as distinct from "type", which, as any unit of classification, is abstract by nature, is real to the same extent as that which it has been derived from:

A is a type/sort of B — here A is not as real as B,

A is an instance of B — A is not less real (material) than B

Jackson6612In a good detergent, a is standing along a countable noun but detergent in itself is not a countable noun. Then, what does make it a countable noun in that particular sentence?

At last, you have asked a specific question. By "detergent" the speaker didnt' mean the "matter" or "substance" itself, but, rather, a type or sort (or brand) of it. "Tide" is one detergent, and "Surf" is another. In this sense, they are countable.

Jackson6612Can you, please, provide me some example sentences in which there is no need to use articles with certain countable/uncountable nouns with whom articles would be used in other sentences.

Countable: http://www.EnglishForward.com/English/WhyNoArticleHere/ggjmr/post.htm

As for uncountable, you have already seen them: "Water boils at 100 centigrades (at the "standard" atmospheric pressure)" — here "water" refers to the verty substance, and the sentence is true for all water in the world.

Ant_222

Jackson6612Let me rephrase it again, even indefinite article the is used with countable nouns or the nouns which are acting as counting nouns.

What's "indefinite article the"?
Sorry, I meant to say definite article. As the meaning of my question stands corrected now, what is your answer?

I have been told that the accent of Russian is such that Russians have to struggle a lot in order to speak good English. Is it true?

Yes, the definite article can be used with nouns of both types, "Pour the water onto the tea" – "water" and "tea" are pure uncountable nouns.

Jackson6612I have been told that the accent of Russian is such that Russians have to struggle a lot in order to speak good English. Is it true?

I don't think so. Maybe we have to struggle a bit to learn to pronounce some sounds, but once grasped, it is not difficult at all.

he was cycling at park / at the park.