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Mitsuo23 Posted 13 years ago
Grammar
memory vs a memory
Hi,
I will quote some of the definitions of "memory" from Longman Dictionary.
A. [U, C] someone’s ability to remember things, places, experiences etc
e.g)The pianist played the whole piece from memory.
B. [C] something that you remember from the past about a person, place, or experience
e.g) He has lots of happy memories of his stay in Japan.
The Definition B is fine to me, but in what kind of context can "memory" be a countable noun in the Definition A?
Thank you,
M
I will quote some of the definitions of "memory" from Longman Dictionary.
A. [U, C] someone’s ability to remember things, places, experiences etc
e.g)The pianist played the whole piece from memory.
B. [C] something that you remember from the past about a person, place, or experience
e.g) He has lots of happy memories of his stay in Japan.
The Definition B is fine to me, but in what kind of context can "memory" be a countable noun in the Definition A?
Thank you,
M
Top answer
In the sense of A. you can have the following sentences, for example: All of the finalists in the piano competition have fantastic memories and vast repertoires, which they can play perfectly from memory. The five finalists in the spelling competition all have fantastic memories.
- In the sense of A.
- you can have the following sentences, for example: All of the finalists in the piano competition have fantastic memories and vast repertoires, which they can play perfectly from memory.
- The five finalists in the spelling competition all have fantastic memories.
- You have to have the dictionary essentially memorized in order to make it to the finals.
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7 Answers
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In the sense of A. you can have the following sentences, for example:
All of the finalists in the piano competition have fantastic memories and vast repertoires, which they can play perfectly from memory.
The five finalists in the spelling competition all have fantastic memories. You have to have the dictionary essentially memorized in order to make it to the finals.
All of the finalists in the piano competition have fantastic memories and vast repertoires, which they can play perfectly from memory.
The five finalists in the spelling competition all have fantastic memories. You have to have the dictionary essentially memorized in order to make it to the finals.
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mitsuwao23The Definition B is fine to me, but in what kind of context can "memory" be a countable noun in the Definition A?Our memories are not the same; his is much better than mine.
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Thank you for the replies, people.
Is it wrong to say, "People have short memory" instead of "memories." If not is there any differences between them?
Thank you,
M
Is it wrong to say, "People have short memory" instead of "memories." If not is there any differences between them?
Thank you,
M
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mitsuwao23Is it wrong to say, "People have short memory" Yes, it's wrong. instead of "memories." If not is there any differences between them?
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sorry for asking you again and again; this should be the last.
Is it correct to say, "People's memory is short." instead of "people's memories are.." ?
Thank you,
M
Is it correct to say, "People's memory is short." instead of "people's memories are.." ?
Thank you,
M
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mitsuwao23Is it correct to say, "People's memory is short." not correct instead of "People's memories are.." ?But you can say 'The people's memory is short.' (Here you are treating the collective memory of the whole population as a single thing.)
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