Re: Proper noun use

Subject: Re: Proper noun use
From: John Oriel <john_oriel -at- NTSC -dot- NAVY -dot- MIL>
Date: Fri, 24 Mar 1995 08:03:56 EST

I've just returned to reading this list after a long
absence, so perhaps I've missed something on this thread,
but it seems to me that there's a simple rule in English
that can often be used to determine whether or not a given
noun should be preceded by an article.

Generally speaking, countable nouns get the article, and
uncountable nouns do not. Most native speakers seem able to
make the distinction without thinking.

It's understandable, however, that technical terms may cause
difficulties even to native speakers. Many of them
are unfamiliar to most people, many are new words, and many
originate with people who are not highly skilled at the
language. If you have difficulty deciding about a
particular word, think about whether the item represented by
the noun is likely to be counted rather than measured. You
can also try looking in one of the learner's dictionaries like
the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary or the Longmans'
Dictionary of Contemporary English.

Just for the sake of confusion, the countability of some
nouns depends upon the sense in which they are used.
Learner's dictionaries usually have information about such
cases. Also, some nouns, like holiday and hospital, are
countable in the U.S. but not in the U.K.

In any event, don't forget that things could be worse. German,
for example, requires that the gender of every article match
the gender of it's noun, and the gender of any particular
German noun has absolutely nothing to do with its meaning. ;-)

John


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