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Nugso Posted 13 years ago
Grammar

Such a thing / Such thing

Hello everyone.

There's no such thing as ghosts.

There's no such thing as a witch.

I guess both of the sentences above are correct, but what if I say those in this way:

There's no such a thing as ghosts.

There's no such a thing as a witch.

I guess my versions are also correct, right?
  

Top answer

Nugso There's no such a thing as ghosts. There's no such a thing as a witch. Those are not correct.

— RandomGuy

  • Nugso There's no such a thing as ghosts.
  • There's no such a thing as a witch.
  • Those are not correct.
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11 Answers
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NugsoThere's no such a thing as ghosts.
There's no such a thing as a witch.
Those are not correct.
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Hi Aspara Gus. Thanks, but isn't thing a countable noun?
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Yes, but it already has no as its determiner.
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Oh, lol. It was that easy. So I can safely say "I didn't do such a thing." right? Because I sometimes hear natives say it without "a".
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NugsoSo I can safely say "I didn't do such a thing." right?
That’s possible.
NugsoBecause I sometimes hear natives say it without "a".
I’d be very surprised to hear a native speaker say I didn’t do such thing.
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NugsoBecause I sometimes hear natives say it without "a".
Then the native speaker would be using the plural:

He doesn't do such things as you have described.
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Even if we're talking about a single action, can we use the plural one to express what we mean?
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NugsoEven if we're talking about a single action, can we use the plural one to express what we mean?
I don't think so. The rules of singular and plural still apply.
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NugsoEven if we're talking about a single action, can we use the plural one to express what we mean?
You cousin Jake spit at his English teacher!

How awful! I wouldn't do such a thing! (spitting at the teacher)
How awful! I wouldn't do such things! (any action, including spitting, that shows disrespect for your teacher)
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