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Believer Posted 19 years ago
Grammar
why is that?
Hi,
Please tell me why one definition of a plant has the article 'a' and the other definition of one other plant does not.
Papyrus is a water plant that ...
A wall flower is a plant that is grown in ...
Please tell me why one definition of a plant has the article 'a' and the other definition of one other plant does not.
Papyrus is a water plant that ...
A wall flower is a plant that is grown in ...
Top answer
I assume the author has omitted a because papyrus is a loan word and therefore has a non-Anglo-Saxon ring to it. Other members may know other reasons, though. CB
- I assume the author has omitted a because papyrus is a loan word and therefore has a non-Anglo-Saxon ring to it.
- Other members may know other reasons, though.
- CB
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2 Answers
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I assume the author has omitted a because papyrus is a loan word and therefore has a non-Anglo-Saxon ring to it. Other members may know other reasons, though.
CB
CB
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Papyrus is being used as an uncountable noun, and wall flower as a countable noun.
Plants that grow together in large quantities, or are so cultivated, are considered uncountable. Grass, for example, consists of so many individual plants growing together that the entire mass of such plants is considered the uncountable grass. Any sort of grain has this prope
Plants that grow together in large quantities, or are so cultivated, are considered uncountable. Grass, for example, consists of so many individual plants growing together that the entire mass of such plants is considered the uncountable grass. Any sort of grain has this prope
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