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Anonymous Posted 13 years ago
Grammar
articles, uncountable
Hi there. After investigating articles-related topics (smth might be taken from this site) I came up with the following:
As I understand, articles can be used with uncountable nouns in accordance with the following "rules/tips"
(1). "the" is/can be used before fully qualified uncountable noun. "abstract nouns are fully qualified when they are followed by a defining relative clause (introduced by who/which/that) or by the preposition of + noun phrase. Under these circumstances, the before the abstract noun is normally required"
The happiness (that) I felt when Maureen became pregnant was unqualified
(2) "a" is/can be used when there is a need to distinguish one kind of a noun from another, to show a kind/an instance of smth, etc (*Mostly this "rule" is applicable to the situations when an adjective precedes an uncountable noun)
She brought me a happiness I've never known before. (that is, She brought me a [kind of] happiness I've never known before)
Assuming that the following "rules" and sentences(examples) are correct, I am confused . both nouns are modified, both nouns are uncountable nouns describing the same emotional states but the articles are different (the only difference seen by me, is that noun in (1) is a subject, whereas noun in (2) is an object. anyway, I dont know whether it is relevant)
I can suggest that in the first example "the happiness" is somewhat "more" specific. This happiness is linked to the only one event, not a kind of happiness which could be applicable to different situations or which can emerge from different events. (However, what if she got pregnant again and I will feel the same kind of happiness - that is "a kind of happiness" ) In the second example "a happiness" seems to match with "a kind of happiness" structure. (However, maybe this kind of happiness will never be repeated in my life, she did smth extraordinary and I am sure the same kind of feelings will not emerge again, - that is "the happiness")
As you may see, I am not satisfied with my attempts to explain it because factually, I end up with applying both these "rules" to each of the examples (that is, use either a or the in each given example). So, do you have any tips/suggestion on how to apply these "rules" to the given sentences (and generally in the similar situations), could both "a" and "the" be the correct choice for each given example?
=== (articles + adjective + uncountable noun) (Copypast from one of the sites and then my questions)
(3) "He served his community with zero-article/the unflinching integrity which guided him through challenging times.
If you leave ‘the’ out, the implication is that the challenging times occurred during his service to the community,
If you put the definite article in, the integrity is then being defined as a personal quality of his, seen in his conduct during challenging times (which may have occurred at other stages of his life). That is, Suppose the point was that he had proved his integrity earlier in life, and it was now at the service of the community."
(Well, the explanation is more or less clear, however I think I will be confused if I will be given a similar in structure/essence example, where omitting an article before a modified noun will change an implied meaning. But...)
...what I want to know is whether we can use "a" before "unflinching integrity" (or why we cannot) as "It's not unusual for nouns that are taught as uncountable to have 'a' before them. You can think of the above as meaning "a type of/an instance of [uncountable noun]", where the real noun is omitted" (one of the quotations describing "a-kind-of-uncountable-noun-rule" mentioned in (2)., ;;; Additionally, this "rule" was also called "reclassification". ("the process by which an uncountable or 'mass' noun gets conceptually separated into 'countable' pieces by a modifier. For example, in using the phrase 'a deep distrust', the speaker has mentally (but probably unconsciously) re-classified 'distrust' into 2 types, 'deep distrust' and 'minor distrust'.")
That is - He served his community with a (kind of) unflinching integrity which guided him through challenging times [*challenging times occurred during his service to the community]. So we are saying about a kind of integrity shown by him which is worth of mentioning ...
Additionally, I've got the following answer: ""He served his community with an unflinching integrity that guided ..." would be grammatical, convey the sense appropriately and, I guess, would not sound the least awkward to the reader." And its made me confused again. So does it mean that we can use zero/a/the before "unflinching integrity"?
As I understand, articles can be used with uncountable nouns in accordance with the following "rules/tips"
(1). "the" is/can be used before fully qualified uncountable noun. "abstract nouns are fully qualified when they are followed by a defining relative clause (introduced by who/which/that) or by the preposition of + noun phrase. Under these circumstances, the before the abstract noun is normally required"
The happiness (that) I felt when Maureen became pregnant was unqualified
(2) "a" is/can be used when there is a need to distinguish one kind of a noun from another, to show a kind/an instance of smth, etc (*Mostly this "rule" is applicable to the situations when an adjective precedes an uncountable noun)
She brought me a happiness I've never known before. (that is, She brought me a [kind of] happiness I've never known before)
Assuming that the following "rules" and sentences(examples) are correct, I am confused . both nouns are modified, both nouns are uncountable nouns describing the same emotional states but the articles are different (the only difference seen by me, is that noun in (1) is a subject, whereas noun in (2) is an object. anyway, I dont know whether it is relevant)
I can suggest that in the first example "the happiness" is somewhat "more" specific. This happiness is linked to the only one event, not a kind of happiness which could be applicable to different situations or which can emerge from different events. (However, what if she got pregnant again and I will feel the same kind of happiness - that is "a kind of happiness" ) In the second example "a happiness" seems to match with "a kind of happiness" structure. (However, maybe this kind of happiness will never be repeated in my life, she did smth extraordinary and I am sure the same kind of feelings will not emerge again, - that is "the happiness")
As you may see, I am not satisfied with my attempts to explain it because factually, I end up with applying both these "rules" to each of the examples (that is, use either a or the in each given example). So, do you have any tips/suggestion on how to apply these "rules" to the given sentences (and generally in the similar situations), could both "a" and "the" be the correct choice for each given example?
=== (articles + adjective + uncountable noun) (Copypast from one of the sites and then my questions)
(3) "He served his community with zero-article/the unflinching integrity which guided him through challenging times.
If you leave ‘the’ out, the implication is that the challenging times occurred during his service to the community,
If you put the definite article in, the integrity is then being defined as a personal quality of his, seen in his conduct during challenging times (which may have occurred at other stages of his life). That is, Suppose the point was that he had proved his integrity earlier in life, and it was now at the service of the community."
(Well, the explanation is more or less clear, however I think I will be confused if I will be given a similar in structure/essence example, where omitting an article before a modified noun will change an implied meaning. But...)
...what I want to know is whether we can use "a" before "unflinching integrity" (or why we cannot) as "It's not unusual for nouns that are taught as uncountable to have 'a' before them. You can think of the above as meaning "a type of/an instance of [uncountable noun]", where the real noun is omitted" (one of the quotations describing "a-kind-of-uncountable-noun-rule" mentioned in (2)., ;;; Additionally, this "rule" was also called "reclassification". ("the process by which an uncountable or 'mass' noun gets conceptually separated into 'countable' pieces by a modifier. For example, in using the phrase 'a deep distrust', the speaker has mentally (but probably unconsciously) re-classified 'distrust' into 2 types, 'deep distrust' and 'minor distrust'.")
That is - He served his community with a (kind of) unflinching integrity which guided him through challenging times [*challenging times occurred during his service to the community]. So we are saying about a kind of integrity shown by him which is worth of mentioning ...
Additionally, I've got the following answer: ""He served his community with an unflinching integrity that guided ..." would be grammatical, convey the sense appropriately and, I guess, would not sound the least awkward to the reader." And its made me confused again. So does it mean that we can use zero/a/the before "unflinching integrity"?
Top answer
Using a/an before uncountable nouns is indeed ungrammatical and sounds awkward.
- Using a/an before uncountable nouns is indeed ungrammatical and sounds awkward.
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2 Answers
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Using a/an before uncountable nouns is indeed ungrammatical and sounds awkward.
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There are myriad ways the articles can be used in English. These cannot be covered in a few rules, you need to learn the various situations by experience. For example:
"The happiness I felt when Maureen became pregnant was unqualified." is correct. However, it is also possible to say, with a similar sense: "A happiness, that I had never experienced before, overcame me when Maureen b
"The happiness I felt when Maureen became pregnant was unqualified." is correct. However, it is also possible to say, with a similar sense: "A happiness, that I had never experienced before, overcame me when Maureen b
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