Indefinite article before a quoted content?

Question

Hi. I think when you put a word or phrase in quotes, it makes people notice the word or phrase in a special way (if I am not mistaken). Then, when you put the indefinite article "a" in front of it, I think what you are doing is making it an instance of it as in "a mixing," which could be taken as an instance of mixing. I think the word "mixing" is a gerund. Could we go far as writing "a mixing various chopped vegetables in a small bowl is a task a very young boy might very well detest."?

Going back to the original question, can you help me make sense of this?

What we will do is a "read-through" of the text dialogues.

Clive · Accepted Answer

Hi,

I think when you put a word or phrase in quotes, it makes people notice the word or phrase in a special way (if I am not mistaken).

Yes. eg In that village's dialect, a table is called a 'chair'.

Then, when you put the indefinite article "a" in front of it, I think what you are doing is making it an instance of it as in "a mixing," which could be taken as an instance of mixing. I think the word "mixing" is a gerund. Yes, it's a gerund. When you use a gerund, in simple and general terms you are making a noun from a verb.

eg Mary dances. Mary likes dancing.

There is no need to use quotes here, because neither of the words is being used in a special way.

Could we go far as writing "a mixing various chopped vegetables in a small bowl is a task a very young boy might very well detest."? To make the statement general, omit the article completely.

eg Mixing vegetables . . . is a task . . .

Going back to the original question, can you help me make sense of this?

What we will do is a "read-through" of the text dialogues.

We will perform the action of reading through the dialogues.

You don't really need the quotes, because you are not using an unusual meaning of the word.

Best wishes, Clive

Mr Wordy · Answer

AnonymousI think when you put a word or phrase in quotes, it makes people notice the word or phrase in a special way (if I am not mistaken).

Yes, amongst their other uses, quotes can indicate that a word or phrase is used with a different meaning to the usual one, or is used ironically (with the opposite meaning).

An indefinite article before a quoted word or phrase has no special significance. If the usual rules of grammar require it then it's used, otherwise it isn't, just as if the word was not quoted.

AnonymousThen, when you put the indefinite article "a" in front of it, I think what you are doing is making it an instance of it as in "a mixing," which could be taken as an instance of mixing. I think the word "mixing" is a gerund. Could we go far as writing "a mixing various chopped vegetables in a small bowl is a task a very young boy might very well detest."?

"a mixing" is possible but not very common. It would usually be used in the phrase "a mixing of". You don't need "a" in your sentence. It should be:

"Mixing various chopped vegetables in a small bowl is a task a very young boy might very well detest."

Anonymous
Going back to the original question, can you help me make sense of this?

What we will do is a "read-through" of the text dialogues.

The writer evidently feels that "read-through" is not used in the usual sense or is in some other way a surprising choice of words. I've no idea why. I think we need more context.

Anonymous · Answer

Hi. Thank you, Clive and Mr. Wordy.

Would you say this be correct?

What happens is a "read-through" of the text.

Mr Wordy · Answer

Anonymous
Would you say this be correct?

What happens is a "read-through" of the text.

It's possible, but in many circumstances it would not be the best choice of words. It doesn't strike me as a particularly elegant sentence either.

As far as sentence construction is concerned, there are no differences between using a word in its usual (unquoted) sense and a special (quoted) sense (I'm not sure if you're thinking there is). If What happens is a read-through of the text is grammatically correct then so is What happens is a "read-through" of the text.

Anonymous · Answer

Hi. Thank you again.

I did a search on the phrases "a read-through" and "a reading-through" on the Google Book Search and have gotten the numbers (I think they represent the number of sources that have such a phrase) 654 and 614 respectively.

I am aware of a gerund being susceptible to being accompanied by the article if the intent is to make an instance of it, as previously used "a mixing," but I don't know what to make of the construct "a read-through." How should a person check if this kind of phrasal construction is correct or learn about using it sentences?

Anonymous · Answer

Hi. Sorry. I forgot to ask you this the last time when I asked a question in response to your latest response. As I said before, I did a search on the phrase "a reading-through" on the Google Book Search and have gotten this one in addition to many, many others. I think I told you the phrase "a reading-through" has gotten the number 614 in the upper-right hand corner of the screen, which seems to represent the number of sources with that phrase in.

The one I got among many and many is this:

The moral vision of the New Testament: community, cross, new creation : a ...? - 203 ???

??: Richard B. Hays - 1997 - 508 ???

... provide textual support for this image: Ephesians and the pastoral Epistles
would be particularly resistant to a reading through the lens of liberation, ...

???? - ?? ?? - ? ??? ???? - ?? ??? ???

Last time, I think (if I am not mistaken) you seemed to have said something like "a mixing of" is the pattern we would normally see. Then what do you make of the part in bold letters above?

AlpheccaStars · Answer

Anonymous but I don't know what to make of the construct "a read-through."

Hi Anon:
If you look carefully at the definition of "read", you will see that it is most commonly used as a verb, but it also is listed as a noun, with these examples:

Give the agreement a careful read before you sign it.
Her new novel is a wonderful read.

The expression "a read-through" is being used in the same sense, as the first example, emphasizing to read the material entirely, not just partially.

Give the agreement a careful read-through.

This is not a very common expression, and to me, a bit idiomatic.
Here is the way I would say this using a gerund:

Give the document a thorough reading before you sign it.

AlpheccaStars · Answer

AnonymousEphesians and the pastoral Epistles
would be particularly resistant to a reading through the lens of liberation

This is an entirely different grammatical construct.

The phrases are
(a reading) (through the lens) where reading is a gerund, and "through the lens" is a prepositional phrase.
There is not a noun phrase "a reading-through" in this sentence.

Mr Wordy · Answer

AnonymousI did a search on the phrases "a read-through" and "a reading-through" on the Google Book Search and have gotten the numbers (I think they represent the number of sources that have such a phrase) 654 and 614 respectively.

"a read-through" strikes me as significantly more likely than "a reading-through". Nearly all the Google book hits seem to be for "a reading through" (no hyphen) which is slightly different: "reading" and "through" are not bound into a single noun, and the sense is more of "a reading", and, then, it's a reading "through". (Some of them are also different senses of "reading through".)

AnonymousLast time, I think (if I am not mistaken) you seemed to have said something like "a mixing of" is the pattern we would normally see. Then what do you make of the part in bold letters above?

The "-ing" forms of some verbs are very naturally used as nouns with "a", either to mean "an instance of" or in some special derived sense. For example, "a feeling", "a reading", "a hearing" and "a beating" are all common and natural.* The "-ing" form of other verbs (probably the majority) are less likely to be so used. For example, "an inviting", "a performing" and "a voting", to pick three random examples from thousands, are all pretty unlikely (though they can all be used as nouns without articles, as in "voting is a waste of time").

"mix" is, I suppose, intermediate in this respect. "a mixing" is OK, but not particularly common. The fact that "a mixing" might often be followed by "of" does not necessarily have any bearing on the use of the "-ing" forms of other verbs. It does, however, seem to be the case that the less likely "a verb-ing" forms often are followed by "of" or other prepositions (for example, you could conceivably say "an inviting of guests", though it's kind of ugly). The more robust nouns, such as "a reading" or "a feeling" may, of course, be followed by "of", but generally they can be used in any syntactic situation where a noun is possible.

*Edit: "common and natural", that is, in the appropriate sense. For example, "a reading" is typically used to mean a formal reading-out of a text (rather than just any instance of reading), and "a hearing" is used in formal situations such as courts or inquiries (rather than just any instance of someone hearing something).

Anonymous · Answer

Hi, I realize this is a long thread and started a few years back, but could you tell me if we can use the phrase "a mixing of something" to denote an instance of something whether it is OK to use the word "mixings" to denote instances of mixing (assuming it is used in a right context or circumstance)? Thank you for your help in advance.

Indefinite article before a quoted content?

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