Is this a generic noun phrase?
Hello... I am trying to figure out whether a sentence like "Larger houses usually have bigger lawns" is a generic noun phrase or basically if any sentence where you have a generic noun with a comparative adjective in front is still a generic noun phrase?
Thank you !
Top answer
"Larger houses usually have bigger lawns" is not any kind of phrase. It's a complete sentence, a complete independent clause. It is generic, however, because it does not refer to any specific house or lawn.
- "Larger houses usually have bigger lawns" is not any kind of phrase.
- It's a complete sentence, a complete independent clause.
- It is generic, however, because it does not refer to any specific house or lawn.
- CJ
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"Larger houses usually have bigger lawns" is not any kind of phrase. It's a complete sentence, a complete independent clause. It is generic, however, because it does not refer to any specific house or lawn.
CJ
0I meant to put "larger houses" in brackets.. since I guess my real question was whether that was a generic noun.
0shorthndabstrctnI meant to put "larger houses" in brackets.. since I guess my real question was whether that was a generic noun.
Insofar as there is such a thing as a generic noun, I guess you could call it that. Any common noun (house, car, river, knife, pen, ...) which is in the plural and unaccompanied by a determiner (a, the, this, tha
0Ok, I think now I understand what generic nouns are and aren't. For context I'm reading a book called the Geography of Thought which jumps around between some different grammar concepts in a vague and confusing way:
For example:
- -“Generic” noun phrases are more common for English speakers than for Chinese speakers, perhaps because Western languages mark in a more explicit
0It's just a slight difference in terminology. They're calling "ducks" a generic noun phrase. There's nothing wrong with that, but many other books call them indefinite noun phrases.
CJ
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