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Russkiy Bear Posted 12 years ago
Grammar
What size (of) (a) sofa.... singular nouns & preposition
OK I got it ( http://www.EnglishForward.com/English/WhatColourEyes/bgzbcq/post.htm ) that in phrase like What colour (of) eyes does she have? I don't really have to use the preposition "of" in some cases. I started thinking about other possible ways to use this construction and I thought up a couple of questions
1) If I always use "of" in such cases, will it always be correct?
2) What do we do with an article if we have a singular noun like in the examples below? optional or needed? From what I gather if we have "of" we need or opt for an article. If we don't we have to drop it. Is it like this?
What size (a) sofa did you buy?
What shape of (a) pancake did she buy?
1) If I always use "of" in such cases, will it always be correct?
2) What do we do with an article if we have a singular noun like in the examples below? optional or needed? From what I gather if we have "of" we need or opt for an article. If we don't we have to drop it. Is it like this?
What size (a) sofa did you buy?
What shape of (a) pancake did she buy?
Top answer
In your examples they are better without the 'a'. The second example made me chuckle. When I go to a restaurant to buy breakfast and ask for pancakes they are always, and only, round and flat.
- In your examples they are better without the 'a'.
- The second example made me chuckle.
- When I go to a restaurant to buy breakfast and ask for pancakes they are always, and only, round and flat.
- One of my older brothers made pancakes in different shapes when we were kids, though the shapes usually didn't turn out quite as expected.
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2 Answers
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In your examples they are better without the 'a'.
The second example made me chuckle. When I go to a restaurant to buy breakfast and ask for pancakes they are always, and only, round and flat. One of my older brothers made pancakes in different shapes when we were kids, though the shapes usually didn't turn out quite as expected.
The second example made me chuckle. When I go to a restaurant to buy breakfast and ask for pancakes they are always, and only, round and flat. One of my older brothers made pancakes in different shapes when we were kids, though the shapes usually didn't turn out quite as expected.
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Russkiy Bear1) If I always use "of" in such cases, will it always be correct?No. 'Of' is unnatural
Russkiy BearWhat size (a) sofa did you buy?No article.
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