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Mitsuo23 Posted 13 years ago
Grammar

salad or a salad?

Hi,

"salad" being used in the sentence below has no "a." Is this because this salad is being used here as a uncountable noun or is it because the speaker sees a pizza and a salad as a set, like "a cup and saucer"?

I ordered a pizza and salad. The pizza was nice but the salad was disgusting.

Thank you for your help.
M
  

Top answer

" Is this because this "salad" is being used here as a uncountable noun ...? It's impossible to tell. Both interpretations are possible.

— CalifJim

  • " Is this because this "salad" is being used here as a uncountable noun ...?
  • It's impossible to tell.
  • Both interpretations are possible.
  • CJ
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6 Answers
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mitsuwao23"salad" being used in the sentence below has no "a." Is this because this "salad" is being used here as a uncountable noun ...?
It's impossible to tell. Both interpretations are possible.

CJ
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Thank you, CJ, and long time no see!
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Probably a bit of both. Salad (and pizza, too) can be countable or uncountable; and ordering foods together tends to make one think of them as a set.
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Excuse me. Could I ask a question, please?

Since "salad" is a countable and uncountable noun,
when do we take it as a countable noun, and when do we take it as an uncountable noun?

Thank you.
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AnonymousSince "salad" is a countable and uncountable noun,when do we take it as a countable noun, and when do we take it as an uncountable noun?
It's hard to give a specific answer, because there is quite a bit of overlap in how the two forms are used. It would be more likely to be treated as uncountable if we are talking about it in general, as a type of foo
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Anonymouswhen do we take it as a countable noun, and when do we take it as an uncountable noun?
If you are thinking of it as amorphous (unbounded) "stuff", it's uncountable.
If you are thinking of it as a bounded "object" (as in a bowl or on a plate), it's countable.

A bowl filled with salad (stuff) is a salad (object).

I
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