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SuperESL Posted 14 years ago
Grammar
Certitude
"One of my certitudes is that I am never wrong."
"He exuded strong certitude that he was never wrong."
"He exuded a strong certitude that he was never wrong."
My understanding is that the word 'certitude' can refer to both 'a thing about which one is certain' and 'a sense of certainty or conviction that a thing is true.' In the former meaning the word is countable, whereas in the latter meaning uncountable. If so, is it wrong to write 'a strong certitude' as in the third sentence above - since the word is uncountable?
Thanks
Joe
"He exuded strong certitude that he was never wrong."
"He exuded a strong certitude that he was never wrong."
My understanding is that the word 'certitude' can refer to both 'a thing about which one is certain' and 'a sense of certainty or conviction that a thing is true.' In the former meaning the word is countable, whereas in the latter meaning uncountable. If so, is it wrong to write 'a strong certitude' as in the third sentence above - since the word is uncountable?
Thanks
Joe
Top answer
'Certitude' = certainty, and the latter is by far the commoner word. Your first sentence sounds OK, but the latter two seems a poor match of hyper-formal words.
- 'Certitude' = certainty, and the latter is by far the commoner word.
- Your first sentence sounds OK, but the latter two seems a poor match of hyper-formal words.
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1 Answers
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'Certitude' = certainty, and the latter is by far the commoner word. Your first sentence sounds OK, but the latter two seems a poor match of hyper-formal words.
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