Timeline for Use of both a zero article and definite article
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
6 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Dec 16, 2020 at 16:51 | comment | added | Edwin Ashworth | terms 'count' / 'non-count' are grammatical terms, applied to usages of nouns (not accurately to nouns themselves), but the referents may be etically (to someone who's been spared the foibles of the English language) countable (4 chairs, two tables ... that's six things to move so far ...). They usually (1 chair, 2 chairs) but don't always (24 pieces of cutlery, 6 head of cattle) match up. | |
| Dec 16, 2020 at 16:51 | comment | added | Edwin Ashworth | (1) I suggest you check for examples (eg using Google ngrams); it's totally idiomatic unpadded. // This has been discussed at length on ELU. The CGEL stance seems by far the best here, with the numeral test not the indefinite article test being key. Note that furniture is still so rarely found in count usages that many would still call it a 'count noun'. (You can again search for 'furnitures'.) But we can count the things in the room ... 5 chairs, two tables ... The noun is non-count (usually; better to say 'is usually found in non-count usages') but the referents are countable.... The ... | |
| Dec 16, 2020 at 15:54 | comment | added | Jack O'Flaherty | @EdwinAshworth I have heard "a certain pride", but not "a pride". In the case of the education example, it is looked at as a unitary thing, of which there are better and worse specimens. Is there a better word than "countable" to refer to such? | |
| Dec 16, 2020 at 14:42 | comment | added | Edwin Ashworth | Even non-count usages can appear with the indefinite article. 'He took a pride in his appearance.' 'She received a fine education in physics and chemistry.' The test is acceptance (or not, as in these examples) of numerals: *'They took ten/10 prides in their appearance.' *'She received two/2 fine educations in physics and chemistry.' | |
| Aug 13, 2020 at 3:22 | history | edited | Jack O'Flaherty | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
add afterthought
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| Aug 13, 2020 at 1:41 | history | answered | Jack O'Flaherty | CC BY-SA 4.0 |