Which one is correct?

Question

"He enjoyed his dinner with a great satisfaction.""He enjoyed his dinner with great satisfaction."Which one is correct and why?

Ersa Qose · Accepted Answer

the second one

AlpheccaStars · Answer

AnonymousWhich one is correct and why?

Satisfaction is a non-count noun.

Anonymous · Answer

The first one is absolutely correct because we should always use a before  saying or telling someone about that. When we're saying great we should always use a before saying that . Like I had a great day with you .

AlpheccaStars · Answer

AnonymousThe first one is absolutely correct because we should always use a before saying or telling someone about that. When we're saying great we should always use a before saying that . Like I had a great day with you .

That's not right in this case, anon.

Day is a count noun, so we say "a great day."
But satisfaction is a non-count noun, so we can say "great satisfaction."

Anonymous · Answer

How can I distinguish between uncountable nouns and countable nouns?

Rahul Roy 3395 · Answer

He enjoyed dinner with a great satisfaction.. correct

AlpheccaStars · Answer

Can you count water? (Non count)
Can you count glasses of water? (There are three glasses of water on the table.)

To express a non-count noun in a countable form, you often need to define it as a piece of something or contained in something.

Bread is non count, so we have these expressions:
- a slice of bread
- a loaf of bread

Nouns like transportation are a bit tricky. You cannot count transportation, but you can count modes of transportation.
(How many modes of transportation do you have in your city? We have trains, busses, taxis and cars. You can walk, too, so there are 5 modes of transportation.)

A good learners dictionary will tell you if a noun is count or non-count. Some nouns can be both, depending on usage. I recommend the Cambridge Advanced Learner's dictionary. If you look up the word "noun" you see this:
noun [ C ]

It says that the part of speech of "noun" is a noun and the [C] means that it is a count noun.
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/noun?a=british

If you look up "satisfaction" you will see that it is (uncount) and [C] count. If you look at the examples, you will see your sentence, where it is non-count.
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/satisfaction?q=Satisfaction

CalifJim · Answer

"knowledge" is also a non-count noun. Then why do we have these?

Fran has a working knowledge of animal husbandry.
and
The candidate should have a good knowledge of physiology.

CJ

Supercat · Answer

CalifJim Then why do we have these?

If I said I don't know, would you tell us why? (Actually I don't know.)

AlpheccaStars · Answer

The more knowledge you have, the more chances you have to obtain good employment throughout your life.

Non-count nouns can be used with the indefinite article (a) when used in a way to mean a "type of" or "kind of" or "degree of."
Typically this is by preceding it with a qualifying adjective which categorizes the degree or extent (a superior knowledge, a better-than-average knowledge, a fleeting knowledge), or a prepositional phrase which subdivides the general concept into a particular class (a knowledge of internal medicine, a (good) knowledge of the Java programming language).

This doesn't work for all non-count nouns, or in all situations though. Native use of articles with nouns that can be either count or non-count takes a lot of study. The Cambridge Learner's Dictionary gives good examples where you can see the differences.

He has (good) experience in telemarketing. (no article)
He has extensive training in auto repair.

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