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Victorycountry Posted 21 years ago
Grammar

I will take a nap vs I will take nap

0 Hi, 02br
00I am just wondering about the reason why the article "a" is needed in "I will take a nap". 02br
00It does sound right with "a" however, as far as I understand, the "nap" is an abstract noun (intangible) and an abstract noun can't be countable(?). 02br
02br
00Please someone help me understand it. 02br
02br
00Thanks in advance. 0-
  

Top answer

0 "nap" is a noun and means "a short sleep". It is COUNTABLE. g.

— Temico

  • 0 "nap" is a noun and means "a short sleep".
  • It is COUNTABLE.
  • g.
  • 02br 02br 00Q.
  • How many naps did you take this week?
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12 Answers
0
0 "nap" is a noun and means "a short sleep". It is COUNTABLE. e.g. 02br
02br
00Q. How many naps did you take this week? 02br
00A. I was too busy and didn't have time to take a nap. 0-
0
0
0 Hi, temico. 02br
02br
00Thanks for your help. 02br
02br
00As you said the noun ("nap") is countable, what about the word, "information"? 02br
00As far as I know, you don't say "How many information's' did you get for the assignment?" (even though, you could rather say "How much information did you get for the assignment".) 02br
00
0
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0 Is 'nap' abstract, v/c? Cf. 'disease', 'meal', 'walk', all of which relate to bodily processes, and all of which are countable. 02br
02br
00MrP 0-
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0Can you say as follows? 02br
02br
00to have a laugh -> They had laughs. 02br
00to have a good sleep -> They all had good sleeps. 02br
00to take a try ->The students took their tries. 02br
00to make a promise -> He made many promises to the people around him. 02br
00a good buy -> I made a lot of good buys yest
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0 Hello Paco 02br
02br
00to have a laugh -> They had laughs. ] Not really; but you can say 'We had a lot of laughs'. 02br
02br
00to have a good sleep -> They all had good sleeps. ] No; but you can say 'they all had a good sleep'. 02br
02br
00to take a try ->The students took their tries. ] No; but you can say 'the students all
0
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0 Hello MrP 02br
02br
00Thank you for the detailed explanations. These rather new idiomatic phrases are really hard for me to use. Usual grammar books don't tell much about them. I've to learn their usages one by one. Anyway thank you again. 02br
02br
00paco 0-
0
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0 at one go -> I'll do it at three goes. ] Not quite; but you can say 'I'll do it in three goes'. 02br
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01h2

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00= 02br
00I'd better not drink sake in one sitting.05002br
0
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0 01blockquote
00I've to learn their usages one by one.12blockquote
12br
02br
02br
00Paco! 02br
02br
00I'm just curious! Do you say "I've to learn their usages one by one" in real life as you typed? 0-
0
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0 "I've to learn their usages one by one" -- Good point, Pastel. When you say "I have to" meaning "I must," we don't usually use the contraction "I've." (Unless you say "I've got to...", still meaning "I must") 02br
02br
00The contraction is used in all those past verb forms whose specific names I've forgotten -- like "I've forgotten." 0-
0
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0 Hello Pastel and Khoff. 02br
02br
00Ugh.. I mistyped. Yes, I typed as I speak. It is my problem to speak 'have' too soft even when I should say 'have to'. I should correct it. Anyway thank you for your kind pointing it out. 02br
02br
00paco 0-
0

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