The article "a" is not generally used before the word "proximity," but I have come across a sentence where it is.
Here goes: "There is a physical proximity between them."
Does "a" here mean "some", and that they are somewhat physically similar?
English Language Learners Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for speakers of other languages learning English. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this communityThe article "a" is not generally used before the word "proximity," but I have come across a sentence where it is.
Here goes: "There is a physical proximity between them."
Does "a" here mean "some", and that they are somewhat physically similar?
Proximity without the article likely means proximity in an abstract/general sense. Typically this means it is equivalent to tacking on the words "in general" after the noun phrase.
Proximity to market is important for the farmer = Proximity to market in general is important for the farmer.
With the article, the sentence means that the speaker/writer is talking about "any existing instance" of proximity.
The problem you are having is likely that proximity itself is a rather abstract concept, two things have proximity if they are near each other. So what is "a proximity"?
What's going on is that people with experience in certain fields or wanting to communicate authority/credibility may "instance-ify" things - the instances they refer to are vague ones in their mind of prior experience.
A proximity to market is important for the farmer.
So the article makes the sentence carry a faint flavor of "I know a bit about farmers."