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Anonymous Posted 20 years ago
Grammar

Why no determiners in front of this countable?

0Hi,02br
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00Why is this sentence from a school brochure does not have a determiner in front of the word "communication"? A countable noun, according to my dictionary.02br
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01i00You maintain 01u00communication02u00 with the University via a Local Administrative Center.02i02br
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00Also, why is it, "Local Administrative Center," capitalized? 0-
  

Top answer

1i 00Communication02i 00 is not countable here; it is a process. Many nouns can appear in both countable and uncountable forms. 0-

— Mister Micawber

  • 1i 00Communication02i 00 is not countable here; it is a process.
  • Many nouns can appear in both countable and uncountable forms.
  • 0-
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8 Answers
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1i00Communication02i00 is not countable here; it is a process. Many nouns can appear in both countable and uncountable forms. 01i00Local Administrative Center02i00 is capitalized, presumably, because they are named precisely that.0-
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0Thank you, but how come the dictionary I did look up didn't state that it - communication - is a uncountable. It just said (literally) that it is both a non plural and countable noun, but has no mention of being an uncountable.02br
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00Why is that? Should I look up in another dictionary? 0-
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0No, I think that what your dictionary means by01i00 non-plural02i00 is 01i00non-count02i00. Uncountable nouns are a subset of non-plural nouns. 01i00Non-plural02i00 is not a term much used in English, but appears more in the grammar of the romance languages, I am lead to believe by googling the term.0-
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0 Thank you again, but this seems to be a sad excuse but there was a typo. The dictionary of mine stated the word "communication" is both a 01i00noun plural02i00 and 01i00countable noun02i00 and there was no mention of it being non-plural. Hope for another of your explanation. 0-
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0Well, I think you're lucky to have a dictionary that says anything about the countability of nouns. My 01i00Webster's02i00 does not; I suppose we native speakers are expected to recognize that feature without assistance.02br
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00Now it's your turn to explain to me what 01i00noun plural02i00 means-- isn't there some kind of 'g
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0Thank you again, but it looks as though I might have made another inadvertant error eventhough I hope I haven't. The dictionary stated (indicated) that the word "communication" is both a 1) 00plural noun00 and a 2) 00countable noun00. It goes on to give an example of the use of the first term as, "01i00Communications02i00 are systems and processes that are
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0Why would that dictionary bother to list both 1 and 2, since they mean the same thing?02br
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01i00Pencil: 1) plural noun and 2) countable noun. Example: My pencils are broken.02br
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02i00Is every obviously countable noun-- 01i00finger, toe, automobile02i00-- also listed as 01i00'plural noun'02i
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1b00I take that all back, Anonymous02b00. It suddenly dawned on me what your dictionary is talking about. 01i00Plural noun02i00 means that in one (or several) of its definitions, the word is used only in the 01u00plural form02u00 (01i00communication01b00s02b02i00), and with either a singu
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