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Tung Quoc Posted 20 years ago
Grammar
noun
Could you tell me all meanings that a plural countable noun without articles can have?
(Ex: In We need curtains.
Curtains here mean some curtains or all curtains or sth else?
How can you distinguish that?)
Q
(Ex: In We need curtains.
Curtains here mean some curtains or all curtains or sth else?
How can you distinguish that?)
Q
Top answer
Curtains means the items in general or as a kind, without specific reference or specified numbers. We need curtains = there are no curtains; any (appropriate) ones will do; nonspecified curtains Lions are dangerous = all lions; any lions; generic lions We are making plans for the holiday = nonspecified plans; all/any (appropriate) plans I have rocks in my pockets = nonspecified rocks Some (= more than one, a sort of plural indefinite article) is often used, where it does not affect the meaning ( I have some rocks, we are making some plans, we need some curtains ). Context and common sense will tell you what is meant.
- Curtains means the items in general or as a kind, without specific reference or specified numbers.
- We need curtains = there are no curtains; any (appropriate) ones will do; nonspecified curtains Lions are dangerous = all lions; any lions; generic lions We are making plans for the holiday = nonspecified plans; all/any (appropriate) plans I have rocks in my pockets = nonspecified rocks Some (= more than one, a sort of plural indefinite article) is often used, where it does not affect the meaning ( I have some rocks, we are making some plans, we need some curtains ).
- Context and common sense will tell you what is meant.
- We need some curtains, any curtains , but not all curtains -- the windows are not big enough to require 150,000,000,000 curtains.
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3 Answers
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Curtains means the items in general or as a kind, without specific reference or specified numbers.
We need curtains = there are no curtains; any (appropriate) ones will do; nonspecified curtains
Lions are dangerous = all lions; any lions; generic lions
We are making plans for the holiday = nonspecified plans; all/any (appropriate) plans
I
We need curtains = there are no curtains; any (appropriate) ones will do; nonspecified curtains
Lions are dangerous = all lions; any lions; generic lions
We are making plans for the holiday = nonspecified plans; all/any (appropriate) plans
I
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Dear teacher,
Lions are dangerous means All lions are dangerous.
We need curtains doesn't means we need all curtains. That means we need only some appropriate curtains.
We need some curtains.= We need curtains.
Lions are dangerous means All lions are dangerous.
We need curtains doesn't means we need all curtains. That means we need only some appropriate curtains.
We need some curtains.= We need curtains.
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