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Marold Posted 12 years ago
Grammar
Lack - articles
I am perplexed by the articles connected with the word "lack" as a noun.
1) A commonly recognised problem is a lack of coordination......
=> The article here is comprehensible for me.
2) The SPRU researchers believe that the lack of quantitative information can mean......
=> I understand the use of the definite article => does it mean that we specify THE particular lack that the interlocuter and I both know?
3) If you allow this for each garment you will not be disappointed by lack of progress......
=> I am totally baffled, however, by the absence of either the definite or the indefinite article. Could anyone clue me in?
Thanks in advance.
1) A commonly recognised problem is a lack of coordination......
=> The article here is comprehensible for me.
2) The SPRU researchers believe that the lack of quantitative information can mean......
=> I understand the use of the definite article => does it mean that we specify THE particular lack that the interlocuter and I both know?
3) If you allow this for each garment you will not be disappointed by lack of progress......
=> I am totally baffled, however, by the absence of either the definite or the indefinite article. Could anyone clue me in?
Thanks in advance.
Top answer
Marold Could anyone clue me in? I'm afraid not. It seems to me that it should be "a lack" or "the lack".
- Marold Could anyone clue me in?
- I'm afraid not.
- It seems to me that it should be "a lack" or "the lack".
- Maybe someone else has a different view of it.
- CJ
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3 Answers
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MaroldCould anyone clue me in?I'm afraid not. It seems to me that it should be "a lack" or "the lack". Maybe someone else has a different view of it.
CJ
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All these sentences were taken out of the British National Corpus. Another examples:
1) Such pressures can lead to lack of environmental awareness or at least an understandable questioning....
2) The biggest danger in diplomacy is falseness, dishonesty and lack of credibility.
3) The reason for your plant stems rotting is very probably lack of light.
1) Such pressures can lead to lack of environmental awareness or at least an understandable questioning....
2) The biggest danger in diplomacy is falseness, dishonesty and lack of credibility.
3) The reason for your plant stems rotting is very probably lack of light.
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MaroldI am completely baffled by that.I suppose you could say it's a special property of the word 'lack', sometimes treating it as uncountable "stuff". Thus, lack of credibility is just one step removed from (the ungrammatical) credibility lack (stuff), and so on for the others (light lack, power lack).
Unfortunately, there are
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