0
Lev Landau Posted 13 years ago
Grammar
A fine rain?
According to the dictionaries I've looked up, rain is an uncountable noun but I saw it used with the indefinite article A several times in Sherlock Holmes stories. For example:
-- the rustle and whisper of a fine rain falling amid the foliage which roofed us in ---
So I wonder if A C Doyle was wrong here, or such use of 'rain' was acceptable grammatically in his time (near the end of the 19th century)?
-- the rustle and whisper of a fine rain falling amid the foliage which roofed us in ---
So I wonder if A C Doyle was wrong here, or such use of 'rain' was acceptable grammatically in his time (near the end of the 19th century)?
Top answer
It's still correct to this day. The article 'a/an' is often used when an uncountable noun is preceded by a qualifying adjective. 'I have an unparalleled admiration for Tolkien'.
- It's still correct to this day.
- The article 'a/an' is often used when an uncountable noun is preceded by a qualifying adjective.
- 'I have an unparalleled admiration for Tolkien'.
- ' Rover
Get the Weekly English Kit 📬
New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.
2 Answers
0
It's still correct to this day.
The article 'a/an' is often used when an uncountable noun is preceded by a qualifying adjective.
'I have an unparalleled admiration for Tolkien'.
'He was suffering from a raging thirst.'
Rover
The article 'a/an' is often used when an uncountable noun is preceded by a qualifying adjective.
'I have an unparalleled admiration for Tolkien'.
'He was suffering from a raging thirst.'
Rover
00
Lev Landaurain is an uncountable nounWhatever the dictionaries say, uncountable nouns can be used as countable nouns when the idea of "a certain kind of" is intended.
a fine rain = a kind of rain that consists of very fine droplets
This means that you may see combinations like "a/an" + adjective + uncountable noun surpri
0
Related Questions