Grade Point Average

MeggPhaggSioux"Postsecondary grade point average is clearly the most important factor for transfer admission."

Shouldn't there be an article before "postsecondary grade point average", since GPA is countable?

Just because something is countable doesn't mean that it always needs an article before it.

c45

Is there a rule on when countable noun could be used with an article?

MeggPhaggSiouxIs there a rule on when a countable noun should be used with an article?

Not that I know of.

MeggPhaggSiouxShouldn't there be an article before "postsecondary grade point average", since GPA is countable?

I'd say an arti

canadian45Just because something is countable doesn't mean that it always needs an article before it.

Right. A countable noun only needs an article if it's singular and not an abstract noun.

You can argue that "grade point average" is being used as an abstraction in this case.

CJ

MeggPhaggSiouxIs there a rule on as to when an article should be used with countable nouns?

Google "when to use articles before nouns".

It seems a concrete countable noun could be arbitarily "abstractized".

MeggPhaggSiouxIt seems a concrete countable noun could be arbitarily "abstractized".

Yes. That's about it.

CJ