more examples please

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Hi,I don't know about you but I find the underlined noun interesting in that it has an English article in front of it. I think it is correct. How do I gain knowledge of this kind of word? I think most of the nouns that have a similar appearance (ie, "action word + ing" pattern) would not accompay an English article  (if you know what I mean).a shaking of the groundI think you would not say the following:a mixing of the ingredients

Goodman · Accepted Answer

BelieverHi,

I don't know about you but I find the underlined noun interesting in that it has an English article in front of it. I think it is correct. How do I gain knowledge of this kind of word? I think most of the nouns that have a similar appearance (ie, "action word + ing" pattern) would not accompay an English article (if you know what I mean).

a shaking of the ground

I think you would not say the following:

a mixing of the ingredients

Based on your questions, I personally think it’s hard to offer you a solid answer. What you used is the gerund form of a verb and choosing the wrong article to put in front of it may make the difference between being correct and otherwise.

The shaking of the ground had caused merchandises to fall off the store shelves. – this is fine

A shaking of the ground had caused merchandises to fall off the store shelves. – this is not.

A lot of times, we need the full context to determine if a word is used properly.

Pieanne · Answer

Do you mean something like "the splattering of the blood/the blood splattering proved the victim had been standing when she was first hit"?

Clive · Answer

Hi Goodman,

As you suggest, context is important. You could say either 'a shaking . . . ' first/non-specific reference to event

or 'the shaking . . ' later/more specific reference

Best wishes, Clive

CalifJim · Answer

Gerunds can be treated as countable or non-countable, the same as other nouns. It seems to me that as non-countables they are generally taken more abstractly.

As with other nouns, a/an can mean an instance of when placed before a gerund.

a shaking of the ground = an instance of ground-shaking = an occasion in which (the) ground shakes / shook
a mixing of the ingredients = an instance of ingredient-mixing = an occasion in which (the) ingredients are / were mixed

CJ

Anonymous · Answer

Thank you, all.

You said, "Gerunds can be treated as countable and non-countable, the same as other nouns." OK, can you apply similar or the same reasoning for a quoted content (or not quoted but in parentheses -- for special treatment, I guess, if that is possible) like this:

Is there a creative "slowing down" of experience?

A "-- ing" needs not be in conflict with a "-- ed". -- I think this might occur in a "response" post, written to respond to an inquiring post.

Are quoted contents given something like carte branche in terms of their freedom to assume many grammatical" roles? For one thing I think it can act both as a countable noun and an uncountable noun.

CalifJim · Answer

If I understand your questions correctly, then 'yes' to all of them.

You can apply the same rules to quoted or parenthesized content.
Quoted contents are free to assume many grammatical roles.

Your two examples in italics are correct, except need is a modal verb in the negative, so it should be need not, not needs not.

Also, it's carte blanche.

CJ

Believer · Answer

Thank you, CalifJim and also Clive.

Is there a ground for misunderstanding for the response you gave and the response Clive gave?

I think in the previous post, Clive said something like using the "a shaking" means it is making a non-specific reference to event or making a first time mention, and using the "the shaking" means it is making a more specific reference or later-time reference.

Can it work like this?

Yesterday, Jean experienced a sadness like the one she never experienced before and her close relatives were wondering what possibly could be the source of the sadness (Is this correctly making the "sadness" definite by making a later-time reference?). They then arrived at the conclusion that her sadness that day might have been due to her recent divorce from her husband of fifteen years.

Clive · Answer

Hi,

Can it work like this? Yes.

Yesterday, Jean experienced a sadness like ~~the~~ one she never experienced before and her close relatives were wondering what possibly could be the source of the sadness (Is this correctly making the "sadness" definite by making a later-time reference?). They then arrived at the conclusion that her sadness that day might have been due to her recent divorce from her husband of fifteen years.

A new student walked into the classroom. The new student was from India.

Best wishes, Clive

Anonymous · Answer

CalifJimGerunds can be treated as countable or non-countable, the same as other nouns. It seems to me that as non-countables they are generally taken more abstractly.

Thank you, CalifJim. I am going to give you four sentences that have a preposition followed by what looks to be a noun equivalent. Can you please tell me if these are illustrations of your points that you made above? Are they all correct noun equivalents?

1.He is displeased with filling of his pail. -- general abstract reference (used as an uncountable noun)

2. He is displeased with the filling of his pail. -- specific reference (used as a countable noun)

3. He is displeased with a filling of his pail. -- an instance of 'filling' (also used in a countable sense)

4. He is displeased with his filling of his pail. -- could be both abstract and specific but in the possessive 'his'

Thank you.

As with other nouns, a/an can mean an instance of when placed before a gerund.

a shaking of the ground = an instance of ground-shaking = an occasion in which (the) ground shakes / shook
a mixing of the ingredients = an instance of ingredient-mixing = an occasion in which (the) ingredients are / were mixed

CJ

Believer · Answer

Thank you, Calif.

Can you tell me what you mean by the same rules can be applied to parenthetical content?

As to the application of the rules to quoted content, I think mostly we focus on some content that is taken from a writing content but can it be done for the case where you are not quoting from any source but using it to bring out a content like this?

A possible title to a post:

What does "It's awesome" mean? -- Here, a person did not pull the content in quotation marks out from anywhere or referring to anything special, but rather decided to put the quotation marks around the clause for the purpose of bring it out for an inquiry, thus making it to act as a noun that shows general meaning.

Jesus wants to be the "someone else" in our lives whom we put first. -- Usually, we use the phrase "someone else" without any articles but in this case we can use "the' because we are specifying a specific someone else, but can we write without the quotation marks like this?

Jesus wants to be the someone else in our lives whom we put first.

Is quotation marks necessary because it is a not-so-usual use of the word "someone else"?

more examples please

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