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Hanuman_2000 Posted 20 years ago
Grammar

a long time ago

Hello,

1. I first met Jennifer a long time ago.

Why has the article "a" been used, though "time" is uncountable noun?
  

Top answer

Time is a countable noun in one of its definitions: time: a period during which something (as an action, process, or condition) exists or continues: an interval comprising a limited and continuous action, condition, or state of being: measured or measurable duration <no one had spoken to him all the time we were at lunch> <could not sleep, and after a time he rose> <gone a long time> <written in three hours' time> --- Webster's Third New International Dictionary Another famous example: It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. --- A Tale of Two Cities , by Charles Dickens.

— Rvw

  • Time is a countable noun in one of its definitions: time: a period during which something (as an action, process, or condition) exists or continues: an interval comprising a limited and continuous action, condition, or state of being: measured or measurable duration <no one had spoken to him all the time we were at lunch> <could not sleep, and after a time he rose> <gone a long time> <written in three hours' time> --- Webster's Third New International Dictionary Another famous example: It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.
  • --- A Tale of Two Cities , by Charles Dickens.
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1 Answers
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Time is a countable noun in one of its definitions:

time: a period during which something (as an action, process, or condition) exists or continues: an interval comprising a limited and continuous action, condition, or state of being: measured or measurable duration <no one had spoken to him all the time we were at lunch> <could
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