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Believer Posted 20 years ago
Grammar
How to see a mass noun?
Hi,
I looked up the word "deodorant" in my dictionary and found out it was a mass noun.
Can you tell me how would I know this word in fact manifesting itself as a type or a brand of something?
I am using a deodorant to present myself nice.
I see the word "deodorant" here as just a product and have a hard time seeing it as a type or a brand, which I must do in order for me to take it as a countable noun. Help.
I looked up the word "deodorant" in my dictionary and found out it was a mass noun.
Can you tell me how would I know this word in fact manifesting itself as a type or a brand of something?
I am using a deodorant to present myself nice.
I see the word "deodorant" here as just a product and have a hard time seeing it as a type or a brand, which I must do in order for me to take it as a countable noun. Help.
Top answer
You can use it either way. I use deodorant before I get dressed. I use a deodorant before I get dressed.
- You can use it either way.
- I use deodorant before I get dressed.
- I use a deodorant before I get dressed.
- In the first case I'm just thinking about deodorant and its effects in general.
- In the second case I am thinking about the actual product I use - a spray or roll-on product.
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5 Answers
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You can use it either way.
I use deodorant before I get dressed.
I use a deodorant before I get dressed.
In the first case I'm just thinking about deodorant and its effects in general. In the second case I am thinking about the actual product I use - a spray or roll-on product.
I use deodorant before I get dressed.
I use a deodorant before I get dressed.
In the first case I'm just thinking about deodorant and its effects in general. In the second case I am thinking about the actual product I use - a spray or roll-on product.
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You can use it either way.
I use deodorant before I get dressed.
I use a deodorant before I get dressed.
In the first case I'm just thinking about deodorant and its effects in general. In the second case I am thinking about the actual product I use - a spray or roll-on product.
It's just a little mental shift between the two. Really it's the difference of thinki
I use deodorant before I get dressed.
I use a deodorant before I get dressed.
In the first case I'm just thinking about deodorant and its effects in general. In the second case I am thinking about the actual product I use - a spray or roll-on product.
It's just a little mental shift between the two. Really it's the difference of thinki
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Thank you very much.
According to the Collins Cobuild Advanced Learner's English Dictionary, the term "Mass Noun", is defined, I am sure, as "It is used like a count noun to refer to a brand or type and it is used like an uncountable noun to refer to a substance," and it seems to read like the opposite of what you told us in your previous response.
I use deordorant before I get
According to the Collins Cobuild Advanced Learner's English Dictionary, the term "Mass Noun", is defined, I am sure, as "It is used like a count noun to refer to a brand or type and it is used like an uncountable noun to refer to a substance," and it seems to read like the opposite of what you told us in your previous response.
I use deordorant before I get
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No, that's what I was saying
a deodorant - count noun - I'm thinking of the actual product, holding the thing in my hand and applying it.
deodorant - non-count noun - I'm thinking of the effects of the substance.
a deodorant - count noun - I'm thinking of the actual product, holding the thing in my hand and applying it.
deodorant - non-count noun - I'm thinking of the effects of the substance.
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Thank you.
So when the dictionary notes as 'types' or 'brand', it actually means the substance itself (ie, the one you are holding in your hand) and when it notes as 'substance', it means the effects of the substance?
Thank you again.
So when the dictionary notes as 'types' or 'brand', it actually means the substance itself (ie, the one you are holding in your hand) and when it notes as 'substance', it means the effects of the substance?
Thank you again.
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