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Believer Posted 20 years ago
Grammar
Lesson on uncountables and choice to make them plurals
Hi,
Can you help me with this?
First, let's make some sentences. The sentence is:
His dog, cat adn crocodile are three happinesses of his life.
Here, obviously, I think, the word happiness is an uncountable noun.
I think Mr. M said in the past in some post or possibly in more than one post that we can make an uncountable nous a plural noun if we think it as an individual part, so here, his dog is his one happiness and his cat is his other happiness and his crocodile is his last third happiness.
Is this way of writing acceptable (including those situations where the writing is done as a term paper or in formal writing situations?
Can you help me with this?
First, let's make some sentences. The sentence is:
His dog, cat adn crocodile are three happinesses of his life.
Here, obviously, I think, the word happiness is an uncountable noun.
I think Mr. M said in the past in some post or possibly in more than one post that we can make an uncountable nous a plural noun if we think it as an individual part, so here, his dog is his one happiness and his cat is his other happiness and his crocodile is his last third happiness.
Is this way of writing acceptable (including those situations where the writing is done as a term paper or in formal writing situations?
Top answer
No, in His dog, cat and crocodile are three happinesses of his life, happiness is countable. What I said is that many nouns can be both uncountable and countable (and in the latter case can of course assume both singular and plural forms). The acceptability of either form (in whatever register or medium) is dependent on the appropriacy of the usage.
- No, in His dog, cat and crocodile are three happinesses of his life, happiness is countable.
- What I said is that many nouns can be both uncountable and countable (and in the latter case can of course assume both singular and plural forms).
- The acceptability of either form (in whatever register or medium) is dependent on the appropriacy of the usage.
- Lord knows where that unhappy Asperisic thread has gotten to now, but while I can live happily with His dog, his cat and his crocodile are the three great happinesses of his life , some of those other suggested countable pluralities were much more off the wall.
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5 Answers
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No, in His dog, cat and crocodile are three happinesses of his life, happiness is countable.
What I said is that many nouns can be both uncountable and countable (and in the latter case can of course assume both singular and plural forms).
The acceptability of either form (in whatever register or medium) is dependent on the appropriacy of the usage. Lord knows wher
What I said is that many nouns can be both uncountable and countable (and in the latter case can of course assume both singular and plural forms).
The acceptability of either form (in whatever register or medium) is dependent on the appropriacy of the usage. Lord knows wher
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No, in His dog, cat and crocodile are three happinesses of his life, happiness is countable.
Is there such a word as 'happinesses'? I can't find it in my dictionaries. According to the Collins Cobuild Dictionary for Advanced Learners, 'happiness' is an uncountable noun.
Is there such a word as 'happinesses'? I can't find it in my dictionaries. According to the Collins Cobuild Dictionary for Advanced Learners, 'happiness' is an uncountable noun.
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I find it in:
And even if it weren't, one can force the language to ad-hoc invent such plurals, but only in special circumstances.
Still, in general, yes, it's uncountable.
And even if it weren't, one can force the language to ad-hoc invent such plurals, but only in special circumstances.
Still, in general, yes, it's uncountable.
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MilkyI hate the use "happinesses". Sounds horrible. Use "joys" there.Same feeling here.
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