A great deal
A participle clause is a dependent clause which uses a participle form of a verb. These clauses are used to avoid making sentences overly complicated. They are used mainly in written English and they allow us to convey a great deal of information in a shorter form.
https://keepsmilingenglish.com/grammar/participle-clauses/
Please explain the use of indefinite article before "great deal..." and "shorter form".
How do we know that the reference is indefinite in the given context?
Top answer
a great deal of . . is an idiomatic phrase meaning 'a lot of .
- a great deal of .
- .
- is an idiomatic phrase meaning 'a lot of .
- ' We never say ' the great deal of'.
- ----------------------------------- a shorter form You can say things in many shorter forms ,and the writer is just referring to one of them.
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a great deal of . . . is an idiomatic phrase meaning 'a lot of . . .'
We never say 'the great deal of'.
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a shorter form You can say things in many shorter forms ,and the writer is just referring to one of them.
Simply put, we say 'a shorter form' for the same reason that we say 'a taller man'.
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