How much abstract an abstract noun is?

Question

Hi, I was reading some resource of grammar on internet and came across this sentence.
"Because of a confusion with that type of sentence, it is a curiously common error to put a comma in the absolute construction"
Should not we use "beacause of confusion..."? Confusion is an abstract noun and can't take 'a' before it.

Similarly for sentences like:
"what a beautiful day!" 'A' refers to day right? so it's okay to use it here.
and for "what a nuisance!" Nuisace, can it be counted? If no then why use 'A'?
and for many more sentences similar to "what a mystery!", "what a beauty!" Or is it that my understanding is wrong and we should use "what nuisance!", "what msytery!" , "what beauty!".

Hope to get some comments soon.

Clive · Accepted Answer

Hi,

"Because of a confusion with that type of sentence, it is a curiously common error to put a comma in the absolute construction"
Should not we use "beacause of confusion..."? Confusion is an abstract noun and can't take 'a' before it.Yes, 'a confusion' is wrong. Your following examples, with 'a', are correct.

Best wishes, Clive

Goodman · Answer

This is a good example of what seemed to be the irregularity of the grammar rules.

As Clive has already demonstrated, Nuisnace is a countable noun but there are cases they can be used as uncountable.

In downtown San Francisco, public drunkenness, littlering and beggars are becoming some of the major nuisances to tourists and locals alike. Sometimes, it's too much nuisnace for even me to tolerate. In this example, "nuisance" is used in both countable and uncountable form. Confusion is an uncountable noun and thus can not take an "a".

Believer · Answer

Hi,

My dictionary noted the word "confusion" as either a variable noun and an uncountable noun, and it is my guess that the use of the word in the original post was in relation to its variable nature.

According to the Collins/Cobuild Advanced Learner's English Dictionary,

CONFUSION: N-VAR If there is confusion about something, it is not clear what the true situation is, especially because people believe different things.

N-UNCOUNT Confusion is a situation in which everything is in disorder, especially because there are lots of things happening at the same time.

In Mr. Goodman's post, in it, it had the following sentence and upon checking the same dictionary it had the "nuisance" as a countable and it is my educated guess that the sentence of his should be like this. I must note that his explanation was very good.

It is too much of a nuisance for even for me to tolerate.

My recommendation for the poster is purchase a good dictionary and I think it will do plenty of good.

Goodman · Answer

Hello Mr. Believer,

I was savoring your comment for a few minutes and I have this thought.

“It is too much of a nuisance for even me to tolerate”. This sounds totally correct.

But "a nuisance" is what I am stuck on and I think the interpretation of the scenario became individual. In the early part of my example, I described several nuisances (plural). Then I summed up my statement by saying “ It is too much nuisance for even me to tolerate” , where “nuisance” in my mind was intended to be as a collective variable noun but in non-countable form. So I didn't apply a preposition phrase " of a". My train of thought was sucha that when we intend to use a variable noun, we use “much” instead of “many”. I know people say it all the time, “ to much of a hassle”, “ to much of a bother” and etc… Now, please enlighten me. Isn’t “too much of “a” something(variable / non-countable) contradictory of the grammar rule. Also, is " too much nuisance even for me to tolerate " a wrong context as well as grammar and meaning? Hope you don't mind my inquiry.

Oh, incidentally I heard people say "it's too much trouble"; never "too much of a trouble". That's the kind of irregularity I wanted to point out. That's all.

Elcid · Answer

Thank you sir! I aprreciate you for your help.

Believer · Answer

Hi,

I don't mind at all. I will try to respond to your inquiry.

Let me try. I think, in the expression "too much of "a" something," the phrase "too much" is functioning as a quantifying phrase of a singular definite noun (in the sentence above, it will be the word "something.").

My Q:

Can we say/write the phrase "a something" or only can use the word "something" without an article "a"?

Anonymous · Answer

hi,what is use an abstract noun in a sentence

Clive · Answer

Hi,
hi,what is use an abstract noun in a sentence
Please tell me an abstract noun. Then I can help you to use it in a sentence.

Clive

Cool Breeze · Answer

Clivehi,what is use an abstract noun in a sentence
Please tell me an abstract noun. Then I can help you to use it in a sentence.

Hi Clive
I haven't read all the posts in this thread and thus I don't really know what this is all about.

"Abstract noun" is a term commonly used in grammar books on this side of the Atlantic. It is used to refer to uncountable nouns that have no physical dimensions and cannot be weighed:courage, happiness, absent-mindedness.
CB

Clive · Answer

Hi,

I know what the term means.

I just wanted to see if the person posting knew.

Best wishes, Clive

How much abstract an abstract noun is?

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