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Practice Makes Perfect English Articles and Determiners Up Close
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AlsobyMarkLesterPracticeMakesPerfect:EnglishVerbTensesUpClose
PracticeMakesPerfect:AdvancedEnglishGrammarforESLLearnersTheBigBookofEnglishVerbs
McGraw-Hill’sEssentialESLGrammarMcGraw-Hill’sEssentialEnglishIrregularVerbs
EnglishGrammarDrillsTheMcGraw-HillHandbookofEnglishGrammarandUsage(withLarryBeason)
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ISBN:978-0-07-175355-5MHID:0-07-175355-9
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Contents
Preface
I ARTICLES
1AnintroductiontoarticlesFourtypesofarticlesCategoriesofnounsSingularcountnouns,pluralcountnouns,andnoncountnounsDistinguishingbetweencountandnoncountnouns
2ThedefinitearticletheThepronunciationoftheThemeaninganduseofthe
3Thesingularindefinitearticlea/anAversusanThemeaninganduseofthesingularindefinitearticlea/anAsummaryofindefinitearticleuses
4TheindefinitearticlesomeIdiomaticusesoftheindefinitearticlesomeThemeaninganduseofsomeThesome/anyquestionruleThesome/anynegativestatementruleOthersome/anyrules
5ThezeroarticleZeroarticle,definitearticles,andindefinitearticlesPresent-tenseformsAdverbsoffrequency
6SummaryofarticleusageThedefinitearticletheThesingularindefinitearticlea/anTheindefinitearticlesomeThezeroarticle,
II DETERMINERS
7AnintroductiontodeterminersComparativeandsuperlativeformsAbilitytofunctionaspronounsWordorder
8DefinitedeterminersDemonstrativedeterminersPossessivedeterminers
9QuantifiersAfew/few;alittle/littleAlotofAll/all(of)theMany/muchReviewofquantifiers
Answerkey
Preface
Thisbookfocusesonthemeaninganduseofalargeandimportantclassofpre-adjectivenounmodifiers:articlesanddeterminers.Thisbookisuniqueinthatitdealsonlywiththisonespecialgroupofnounmodifiers.Consequently,itisabletoprovideamuchgreaterin-depthtreatmentthanwouldbepossibleinamoreconventionalgrammarbookthatalsocoversahundredothertopics.Whilemanyofthetopicsandissuescoveredwillbefamiliartoyou,thedepthanddetailofthecoveragewilladdressmanyissuesthatwillbetotallynewtoyou.
ThisbookisintendedforadvancedEnglishlearners.Itassumesthatyouarecomfortablewithacollege-levelEnglishvocabulary.Thegrammaticalvocabulary,however,isquiteordinary.Thetermsusedinthisbookareonesthatyouhavebeenusingsincehighschool.
Thebookcontainsanumberofshortexercises,allwithanswersprovidedintheAnswerkey.Thepurposeoftheexercisesisforyoutotestyourownunderstandingofaconceptortopracticeaparticularskillortechnique.Theseexercisesareimportantasawayforyoutoensurethatwhatyouhavestudiedhasreallybeenlearned.Itisalltooeasytohaveapassiveunderstandingofthematerialwithoutrealizingthatyouaredependentonthesupportprovidedbytheinstructionmaterial.
Thisbookhastwogoals,oneobviousandonenotsoobvious.Thefirstandmostobviousgoalistohelpyouusearticlesanddeterminerscorrectly.Articlesanddeterminersaresomeofthemostdifficultwordsfornonnativespeakerstousecorrectly.SincetheyarealsosomeofthemostfrequentlyusedwordsinEnglish,theopportunityfornonnativespeakerstomakemistakeswiththemisnearlyunlimited.
Asubstantialportionofthetextisdevotedtoasecondgoal:helpingyouunderstandthesometimesquitesubtleimplicationsinthewaynativespeakersusearticlesanddeterminers,especiallyininformal,conversationalsettings.Accordingly,muchofthebookdealswithissuesofusage—exploringtheconsequencesofdifferentstylisticchoicesinthewaysweusearticlesanddeterminers.
Therearetwomaincomponents.PartIdealswitheachcategoryofarticleinturn.Historically,grammarbooksrecognizedonlytwoarticles:theindefinitearticlea/anandthedefinitearticlethe.However,wewilladdtwoadditionalarticles:some/any(whichwewilltreatasaunit)andthezeroarticle, .(Azeroarticleistheoptionofchoosingtohavenoovertarticlewhereonewouldnormallybeexpected.Hereisasentencewithtwozeroarticles:Onionsgiveme indigestion.)
PartIIdealswithdeterminers,whicharealargeandheterogeneousgroupofpre-adjectivenounmodifiersthat“determine”whichnounisbeingtalkedabout.Therearetwomaintypesofdeterminers:definitedeterminersandquantifiers.Definitedeterminersservetodefineorspecifythenounmodifiedbythedeterminers.Herearesomeexamplesofdefinitedeterminers:
Quantifiersaredeterminersthatspecifythequantityoramountofthenounbeingmodified.Herearesometypicalexamplesofquantifiers:all,some,much,many,few,little,andsoon.
Quantifiersaccountforadisproportionatelylargenumberoferrorsfornativeandnonnativespeakersalike.Quantifiersareextremelysensitivetothedistinctionbetweencountandnoncountnouns,forexamplewesay“manyproblems”because“problems”isacountnoun,but“muchconfusion”because“confusion”isanoncountnoun.
•I•ARTICLES
•1•Anintroductiontoarticles
Thischapterwillgiveyoutheinformationyouneedtousearticlescorrectlyandtounderstandtheoftensubtlewaysnativespeakersusearticlestoexpressmeaning.
Fourtypesofarticles
Traditionally,thereareonlytwoarticles:thedefinitearticletheandtheindefinitearticlea/an.However,inthispresentation(asinmostmoderngrammarbooks),werecognizenolessthanatotaloffourdifferenttypesofarticles(i.e.,countinganyasthecounterpartofsomeinquestionsandnegativestatementsandnotasaseparatearticleinitsownright):
thedefinitearticlethethesingularindefinitearticlea/antheindefinitearticlesomethezeroarticle,
Hereareexamplesofthefourtypesofarticles:
thedefinitearticlethe
Irecognizedthevoicesthatwerecomingfrominsidethehouse.Thetermsoftheagreementhavenotyetbeensettled.
thesingularindefinitearticlea/an
Inoticedanewleakinthepatiorooftonight.TherehasbeenanaccidentonnorthboundI-405.
theindefinitearticlesome
Weboughtsomemapsatagasstationonthewayup.Thereissomeluggagestillonthebus.
thezeroarticle,
Luggagemustbeplacedundertheseatsduringtheflight.
Bananasarehighin potassium.
Usingacommonnounwithoutanyovertarticleordeterminerisreferredtoasusingazeroarticle.Azeroarticlenormallyindicatesthatanounisbeingusedgenericallyasageneralizationaboutawholecategory.Inthetwopreviousexamples,theuseofazeroarticleinthefirstexamplemeansthatthefirstsentenceistalkingaboutallluggage,notanyoneparticularpieceofluggage.Theuseofthezeroarticleinthesecondexamplesignalsthatthesentenceismakingageneralizationaboutthenatureofallbananas.
EXERCISE
1•1
IdentifyingthefourarticlesUnderlineeachofthearticlesinthefollowingsentences,andthenindicatewhichofthefourtypesitis:definitearticle(def.);singularindefinitearticle(sing.indef.);indefinitearticlesome(indef.some)orzeroarticle(zero).Anexampleisprovided.
Note:Inquestionsandnegativestatementssomeautomaticallychangestoany.Forexample,comparethefollowingsentences:
Ihavesomemoney.Question:Doyouhaveanymoney?Negative:Idon’thaveanymoney.
Wewilltreattheseusesofanyasobligatoryalternativeformsoftheindefinitearticlesome.
1.Familynamescomefromallovertheworld.2.Aninterestpaymentwillbedueonthefirstofthemonth.3.Whattheydidreallytooksomecourage.4.Playershavetoenterthestadiumthoughaspecialgate.5.Somecostscannotbepassedontocustomersandmustbeabsorbedbythecompany.6.Experienceisasternandunforgivingteacher.7.Theyinheritedpropertyonthecoastfromadistantrelative.8.Thepolicewerenotabletofindanysolidevidenceconnectingtheinitialsuspectstothecrime.
9.Technically,glassisnotasolid,becauseitdoesnothavearigidstructure.10.Somefishisveryhighinomega-3fattyacid.
Categoriesofnouns
ThemainpresentationinPartIisinfourchapters,onechapterforeachofthefourtypesofarticle:
1.Definitearticlethe
2.Singularindefinitearticlea/an
3.Indefinitearticlesome
4.Zeroarticle,
However,beforewelookatthefourdifferenttypesofarticlesindetailinthefollowingsections,weneedtounderstandthecomplicatedinterrelationbetweenthetypeofarticleandthedifferentgrammaticalcategoriesofnounsthatthesearticlesmodify.Thesegrammaticalcategoriesdeterminewhicharticlesareavailableforustochoosefrom.Failuretocorrectlyidentifythegrammaticalcategoryofthenounthatanarticlemodifiesisacommonsourceoferrorinselectingtheproperarticle.
Therearethreedifferentcategoriesofnouns:(1)singularcountnouns(countnounsusedinthesingularform),(2)pluralcountnouns(countnounsusedinthepluralform),and(3)noncountnouns(nounsthatcannotbecountedorusedinthepluralform).Apple,forexample,isatypicalcountnoun.Itcanbeusedbothinthesingularandplural
forms:
Fruitisatypicalnoncountnounthatcannotbecountedorusedintheplural:
Note:ThesymbolXisusedthroughoutthebooktoindicatethatthefollowingword,phrase,orsentenceisungrammatical.
Thefollowingchartshowswhicharticlescanbeusedwithwhichcategoriesofnouns:
Thedistinctionbetweengenericandnongenericusesofnoncountnounswillbediscussedindetailin“Distinguishingbetweencountandnoncountnouns.”
Thefollowingareexamplesofeachtypeofarticlewithallofthenouncategoriesthatitcanbeusedwithgrammatically.(Thearticlesareinbold.Thenounsbeingmodifiedareunderlined.)
EXERCISE
1•2
ConnectingarticletypeswithnouncategoriesAllofthearticlesinthefollowingsentencesarecorrectlyused.First,underlineeacharticle,andidentifywhichofthe
fourarticletypesitbelongsto.Second,underlinetwicethenouneacharticlemodifies,andidentifywhichofthethreenouncategoriesthemodifiednounbelongsto.(Remember,youwillhavetoaddthezeroarticletothesentenceifitiscalledfor.)Anexampleisprovided.
1.Imadeabigmistakerightatthebeginning.2.Wearereallytryingtocutbackonsalt.3.Someversionsofthestoryhaveatotallydifferentoutcome.4.Bigprojectsalwaystendtorunoutoftime.5.Theteamhasshownsomesignsofimprovementlately.6.Wegotaloantomakesomerepairs.7.Hedealswiththeintegrationofdifferentcomputersystems.8.Thefailurescameasacompletesurprise.9.Peoplearetoobusythesedays.10.Theuniversityoffersanumberofscholarships.
Singularcountnouns,pluralcountnouns,andnoncountnouns
Theremainderofthisintroductorychapterdiscussesthecategoriesofnounsthatarticlesmodify:singularcountnouns,pluralcountnouns,andnoncountnouns.Themainfocuswillbeonnoncountnouns,whichareamajorsourceoferrorsfornonnativespeakers.Itisimportanttokeepinmindthisdiscussionofthecategoriesofnouns,becauseitwillnotberepeatedinthefollowingchaptersthatdealwitheachofthefourtypesofarticlesorinPartII,whichdealswithdeterminers.
Singularcountnounsandpluralcountnounsareintimatelyconnected.Themaincharacteristicofanormalcountnounisthatwecanuseitwithbothsingularandpluralforms.Ofcourse,EnglishbeingEnglish,afewexceptionalcountnounsdonothavebothsingularandpluralforms.Afewsingularcountnounsendingin-shavenocorrespondingplural(e.g.,news,politics,statistics).Inotherwords,thesenounsareinherentlysingularwithoutanypossibilityofapluralformorapluralmeaning.
Thenewsisgoodtonight.ThenewsXaregoodtonight.
Thirty-somepluralcountnounsdonothavesingularcountnouncounterparts(e.g.,people,police,scissors,pants,savings,wages).
Thepeoplewhocouldn’tgetticketswereveryupset.Thepeoplewhocouldn’tgetticketsXisveryupset.
Someoftheseplural-onlynounshaveregularcountnouncounterparts,butofcourse,theydonotmeanthesamething.Forexample,theplural-onlynounsavingsmeansthetotalamountofmoneyapersonhasputaside:
Myparentshaveinvestedtheirsavingsonlyingovernmentbonds.
Thecountnounmeaningofsavingsistheparticularamountofmoneythatsomeoneearnedinaspecifictransaction:
Igotasavingsof$15bygettingthecoatonline.
Theremaining99.99%ofcountnounshavebothsingularandpluralforms.Thereisnorequirementthatcountnounsformtheirpluralsinaregularway.Theonly
requirementisthatcountnounshavepluralmeaningsaswellassingularmeanings.Forexample,thenoundeerishighlyirregularinthatithasnorecognizablepluralformatall:
Nevertheless,deerclearlyhasasingularmeaninginthefirstsentenceaswecantellfromtheuseofthesingulararticlea.Deerispluralinthesecondsentenceaswecantellfromtheuseofthepluralnumberwordthree.
Ingrammaticalterms,thedefinitionofcountnounsisthattheycanbecounted.Inotherwords,foranountobeacountnoun,thenounmustbefreelycountablewiththecardinalnumberwordsone,two,three,four,andsoon:
oneapple,twoapples,threeapples,fourapples…oneidea,twoideas,threeideas,fourideas…
Noncountnounsareatotallydifferentstory.Asthenametellsus,noncountnounscannotbecountedwithanycardinalnumberwords,singularorplural.Forexample,herearetwononcountnouns:smogandhealth.Whenwetrytousethesamecardinalnumberwordsweusedearlierwiththecountnounsappleandidea,theresultsareuniformlyungrammatical:
Xonesmog,Xtwosmogs,Xthreesmogs,XfoursmogsXonehealth,Xtwohealths,Xthreehealths,Xfourhealths
Theeasiestquicktesttoseeifanounisacountnounoranoncountnounistoseeifthenouncanbeusedintheplural(remember,wearetalkingaboutmeaning,notform):
Countnoun:Ifyoucangrammaticallyuseanouninitspluralforminasentence,thenthenouniscountable.
Noncountnoun:Ifyoucannotgrammaticallyuseanouninitspluralforminasentence,thenthenounisnoncountable.
Herearesomeexamplesofapplyingthistesttoafewsamplewords:
1.risk:Therisksassociatedwiththeplanareunacceptablyhigh.Answer:Grammatical,soriskisacountablenoun.
2.silence:WelovetheXsilenceswhenwegetoutofthecity.Answer:Ungrammatical,sosilenceisanoncountnoun.
3.implication:Therearealotofimplicationsthatwehaven’texplored.Answer:Grammatical,soimplicationisacountnoun.
4.integration:TheXintegrationsofAmericanschoolswasahugeissue.Answer:Ungrammatical,sointegrationisanoncountnoun.
Thereisoneimportantexceptiontothegeneralrulethatnoncountnounscannotbeusedintheplural.Sometimesnoncountnounscanbeusedinthepluralformbutonlyifthepluralformdoesnothaveapluralmeaning.Instead,thepluralformhasacompletelyunrelatedmeaning:“differentkindsof.”Herearesomeexamplesthatpairtogethertwodifferentusesofthesamenoncountnoun:firstwiththenormalnoncountmeaning(whichisungrammaticalintheplural),andsecondwiththemeaningof“differentkindsof”(whichisgrammaticalinthepluralform).
Note:Cheesesisactuallyapluralnoun,aswecanseewhenwemakeitthesubjectofasentenceandhaveapluralverbagreewithit:Thesecheesesarereallygood.
Fromthispointoninourdiscussion,wewillsetasidethespecialuseofnoncountnounsinthemeaningof“differentkindsof.”
Distinguishingbetweencountandnoncountnouns
Theremainderofthissectionisdevotedtogivingyousomepracticalwaystodistinguishbetweencountandnoncountnouns.
Thedistinctionbetweencountandnoncountnounsiswidespreadinlanguagesaroundtheworld.Inverybroadterms,itisasemanticdistinctionbetweennounsthatrefertothingsandideasconsideredasindividualentities(countnouns)asopposedtothingsandideasthatwethinkofasindivisiblewholeentitiesorcategories(noncountnouns),notasindividualentities.
Hereisasimpleexamplethatexemplifiesthedifferencebetweenviewingnounsasreferringtoindividualobjectsandviewingnounsasreferringtoundifferentiatedmasses:
Cloudandfogarephysicallyexactlythesomething:visiblewatervapor.Thedifferenceisinourperceptionofthem.Weperceiveacloudasanindividualobject.Weperceivefogasanundifferentiatedmass.Accordingly,wetreatcloudasacountnounandfogasanon-countnoun.
Therewereseveralcloudsonthehorizon.Therewasfogonthehorizon.
Aswewouldexpect,wecannotpluralizethenoncountnounfog:
XTherewerefogsonthehorizon.
Itisconvenienttodividenoncountnounsintotwogroups:concreteandabstract.Concretenoncountnounsrefertoconcrete,physicalobjectsthatyoucantouchorperceive,forexample,cheese,cement,dust,paper,rain,cotton,andmilk.Abstractnoncountnounsrefertoabstractionsandotherintangiblethingsandideas,forexample,charity,smiling,Spanish,electricity,tennis,andknowledge.
Thegroupofconcretenounsissmallerthanthegroupofabstractnounsand,notsurprisingly,mucheasiertotalkabout.Accordingly,wewillbeginwithadiscussionofconcretenouns.
Concretenoncountnouns
Manyconcretenoncountnounsfallintothefollowingfoursemanticcategories:
1.Massnouns
2.Liquidsandgases(bothclearandwithsuspendedsolids)
3.Categoriesofraworbasicmaterials
4.Categoricaltermsforclassesofsimilarobjects
Massnouns
Manyconcretenoncountnounslikedust,rice,orhairrefertoobjectsthatoccurinsmallparticlesorpiecesthatweconsidercollectivelyintheaggregateasopposedtolargerobjectsthatweconsiderasindividuals.Wetypicallyrefertothesesmallerobjectscollectivelyorasagroupormass.
Thefurniturewascoveredindust.Icookedthericefor20minutes.Thecarpetalwaysshowsdoghair.
Forthisreason,wewillrefertothissemanticgroupofnoncountnounsasmassnouns.Note:Thetermmassnounisalsosometimesusedmorebroadlyasasynonymforcountnoun.Inthisbook,however,wewillusethetermmassnounnarrowlyasalabelforthisoneparticularsemanticcategoryofconcretenoncountnouns.
Anobviousquestionthatarisesishowsmalldoobjectshavetobeforthemtobeconsideredmassnouns?Thefollowingexercisemayhelpyouanswerthisquestionforyourself.
EXERCISE
1•3
ThedifferenceinsizebetweencountnounsandnoncountmassnounsThefollowinglistofnounsreferstosmallobjects.Somearecountnounsandsomeare
noncountmassnouns.Indicatewhetheryouthinkthenounisacountnounoranoncountmassnoun.Thefirstquestionisdoneasanexample.
Howwouldyoucharacterizeinafewwordswhatthedifferenceisinsizebetweencountnounsandnoncountmassnouns?ChecktheanswerintheAnswerkey,andseeifyouagree.
Thereisabigdifferencebetweenthewaywetalkaboutconcretecountnounsandthewaywetalkaboutconcretenoncountmassnouns.Forexample,contrastthedifferencesbetweenthewaywetalkaboutthecountnountreeandtheconcretenoncountmassnoungrass.Weusethecountnountreetotalkaboutaspecificindividualtreeorsomespecificgroupoftrees.
Atreefellacrosstheroadandtemporarilyblockedit.Thetreeonthepatioreallyhelpskeepthehousecool.Thosetreesshelterthehouseagainstthewind.Thenurseryisgoingtodeliverthetwonewtreeswebought.
Thenoncountmassnoungrass,ontheotherhand,referstoaclassofobjectsthatwecantalk
aboutonlycollectivelyasanundifferentiatedwholegroup:
Weplantedgrassinthefrontyard.Thegrassisn’tgettingenoughwater.Thelawnmoweriscuttingthegrasstooshort.
Whenwetrytotalkaboutgrassasanindividualobject,theresultsaretotallyungrammatical:
IgotaXgrassinmyeyeasIwascuttingthelawn.OneXgrassneedstobereplaced.ThesprinklerisgettingthosefourXgrassestoowet.IamgoingtoweedthetwoXgrasses.
Liquidsandgases(bothclearandwithsuspendedsolids)
Liquidsandgasesarelikenoncountmassnounsinthattheyarealwaystreatedasindivisiblecategories.Herearesomeexamples:
Ifwetrytousethesenounsintheplural,theyareungrammatical.
Note:Weoftenusenumberwordswiththepluralizednamesofliquids,buttheseexpressionsarecontractionsoflongerexpressionsinwhichthenoncountnounsareinsideprepositionalphrasesbeginningwithof.Thenumberwordsareactuallymodifyingthecountnounsattheheadoftheprepositionalphrases,notthenoncountnounsthatarelockedupinsidetheofprepositionphase.Forexample,forthesentence,
Wewouldlikefourcoffees,please.
thefullunderlyingsentenceis,
Wewouldlikefourcupsofcoffee,please.
Thenumberwordfouractuallymodifiestheunderstoodpluralcountnouncups,notthenoncountmassnouncoffee.
EXERCISE
1•4
IdentifyingnoncountnounsthatareliquidsandgasesTheunderlinednounsinthefollowingsentencesareallplural.Someofthepluralsarecorrectlyusedbecausethenounsarecountnouns.Otherpluralsarecorrectlyusedbecausethepluralsarecontractedformsofprepositionalphrasescontainingof.Theremainingpluralformsareungrammaticalbecausetheyarenoncountnounsusedinthepluralfornamesofliquidsorgases.
Foreachunderlinednoun,determinefirstwhethertheunderlinednounisgrammaticalorungrammatical.Ifthenounisgrammatical,isitgrammaticalbecauseitis(a)acountnounor(b)acontractedformcontaining“of”?Threeexamplesaregiven.
Thedropsareaddedtotheeyeoneatatime.(a)grammaticalbecausedropsisacountnounThecondensationsweregettingalloverthewindshield,andwecouldn’tsee.ungrammaticalbecausecondensationisanoncountnoun—thenameofaliquidWehadsomebeerswithourfriendsafterwork.(b)grammaticalbecausesomebeersisacontractedformofaprepositionalphrasecontainingof:somebottles/glassesofbeer
1.Thekidsweregettinghoneysallovertheirhandsandfaces.
2.Ifvehicleshavefulltanks,heatcancausethegasestooverflow.
3.Seawatersarecorrodingalltheintakepipes.
4.Thestreamsinthisareaallfloweast.
5.Inlatesummer,thereisalwaysheathazeshangingintheair.
6.Iorderedsomelemonadesforthekids.
7.Eggsareagoodsourceofprotein.
8.Itwassohotwestoppedandhadlemonades.
9.Theexhaustswereleakingbackintothetruckandmakingussick.
10.Acommonmistakeinmakingpancakesisgettingthebatterstoothick.
Categoriesofraworbasicmaterials
Thislargeanddiversecategoryconsistsofcategoriesofbasicorrawmaterialsthatspecificcountableobjectsaremadefrom.Itisconvenienttobreakthiscategoryintotwogroups:physicalmaterialsandbasicfoodstuffs:
namesofallthephysicalelements(lead,copper,iron,zinc,etc.)namesoftypesofcloth(cotton,wool,silk,rayon,nylon,polyester,etc.)
Allthepathwaysaremadeofcement.Thepriceofcopperhasgonethroughtheroof.Idon’twearwool,becauseitmakesmyskinitch.
Alotofsimpledishesstartwithgroundbeef.Thesauceismadewithbutter.Weneedtogetacoupleofpoundsofcoffee.
Asexpected,alloftheseexamplesofnoncountnounsbecomeungrammaticaliftheyareusedintheplural:
AllthepathwaysaremadeofXcements.ThepriceofXcoppershasgonethroughtheroof.Idon’twearXwools,becausetheymakemyskinitch.AlotofsimpledishesstartwithXgroundbeefs.ThesauceismadewithXbutters.WeneedtogetacoupleofpoundsofXcoffees.
Categoricaltermsforclassesofsimilarobjects
Someconcretenoncountnounsrefertoentirecategoriesofcountnounsthatareindividualmembersofalargerclassdefinedbythenoncountnoun.Forexample,thenoncountnounclothingisacategoricaltermforallthedifferentitemsthatwewear:shirt,tie,blouse,dress,andsweater(allofwhichareindividualcountnouns).
Thenoncountcategoricalnounclothingcannotbeusedintheplural:
XPutallyourdirtyclothingsintothebasketinthecloset.
However,alltheindividualitemsofclothingarecountnounsandcanbemadeplural:
Ihadtwoshirts,severalties,andonesweaterinmycloset.
Herearesomemoreexamples:
Aswewouldexpect,thenoncount-categorytermscannotbeusedintheplural:
PleaseputyourXluggagesunderyourseats.WeneedtoputsomeoftheXfurnituresintostorage.Ihaveaweek’sworthofXmailstoanswer.
EXERCISE
1•5
NoncountcategoricaltermsThefollowingaregroupsofsemanticallyrelatedwords.Eachgroupcontainsamixtureofasinglenoncountcategoricaltermtogetherwithseveralcountablenounsthatfitintothatsemanticcategory.Findthenoncountcategoricalterm.Confirmyouranswerbypluralizingallofthewords.Thepluralofthenoncountcategoricaltermwill,ofcourse,beungrammatical.Thefirstquestionisdoneasanexample.
ring,bracelet,jewelry,necklace,earringring,bracelet,jewelry,necklace,earringConfirmation:rings,bracelets,Xjewelries,necklaces,earrings
1.quarter,dime,dollar,penny,money
2.fruit,apple,banana,peach,orange
3.wrapper,scrap,bananapeel,trash,carton
4.car,bus,traffic,truck,motorcycle
5.silverware,knife,fork,spoon
6.stapler,computer,copier,printer,equipment
7.mountain,scenery,lake,waterfall,valley
8.shoe,boot,sandal,heel,footwear
9.apartment,flat,house,housing,room
10.fact,opinion,information,note,memo,list
Abstractnoncountnouns
Thedistinctionbetweenabstractandconcretenounsisasimple,practicalone:abstractnounsrefertointangiblethingssuchasideasandconcepts,whileconcretenounsrefertotangiblethings.Thesamedifferencewesawbetweencountandnoncountconcretenounsalsoholdsbetweencountandnoncountabstractnouns:abstractcountnounsrefertothingsandideasthatweperceiveasindividual,distinctentities.Wecancompareandcontrasttheseentities,and(moretotheimmediatepoint)wecantalkaboutthemintheplural.
Abstractnoncountnounsarequitedifferent.Abstractnoncountnounsrefertothingsandideasweperceiveasqualitiesorwholeentireconditionsorcategories.Forexample,theabstractnoncountnounbeautyreferstotheconditionorstateofbeingbeautiful.Wecannotcountitorpluralizeitaswecouldacountnoun.
Don’tthinkofabstractnounsasalwaysbeingnoncountnouns.Abstractnounscanbeeithercountnounsornoncountnouns.Forexample,comparetheabstractnoncountnounhomeworkwiththeabstractcountnounassignment.Homeworkisakindofobligationorcommitment.Wecannotcountitorpluralizeit.Thecountnounassignmentistotallydifferent.Itisaspecific,definabletask.Wecantalkaboutthistaskanywaywewant.Wecancompareyourassignmentwithmyassignment.Wecancountthedifferentassignmentsandpluralizetheword.
Thegroupofabstractnoncountnounsismuchlargerandmorediversethanthepreviousgroupofconcretenoncountnouns.Theverytermabstractnounconjuresuplistsoflarge,difficult-to-defineconceptssuchasthefollowing:
truth,beauty,justice,knowledge,life,art,education,happiness,love
Theseabstractnounsarenoncountnouns,butthefactthatanounisabstractdoesnotnecessarilymeanthatitisalsoanoncountnoun.Thefollowingisalittlethoughtexperimentthatshowshowdifficultitistointuitivelydistinguishcountfromnoncountabstractnouns.Allofthefollowingtenwordsareabstractnouns.Fivearecountnounsandfivearenoncountnouns.Howmanycanyoucorrectlyidentify?
Answers,inalphabeticalorder:advice,noncount;assistance,noncount;decision,count;failure,count;luck,noncount;outcome,count;progress,noncount;risk,count;sorrow,count;truth,noncount.
Thefollowingaresomehelpfulcategoriesofabstractnoncountnouns.Aswewouldexpect,nearlyallthecategoriesarebasedonthemeaningofthenouns,butthemostcommoncategoryisbasedongrammar.
Abstractnoncountnounsderivedfromadjectivesbythesuffix-ness
Mostadjectivescanbechangedintoabstractnounsbyaddingthesuffix-ness.Thisisthelargestdefinablegroupofabstractnoncountnouns(morethan800intotal,thoughmanyarelowfrequency).Thefollowingaresomeexamples:
Virtuallyallofthesederivednounsarenoncount.
Wecouldn’thelpbutnoticetheXcoolnessesofthedelegationmembers.TheXquicknessesoftheirpassesmadethemahardteamtobeat.TheXwillingnessesofthechildrentohelpmadearealdifference.
Activities
Thislargegroupofnounsrepresentingactivitieshasthreesubcategories:
-ingactivitywords
These-ingwordsareallgerunds,whicharepresentparticiplesusedasabstractnouns:working,hiking,playing,reading,singing,sleeping.Thefollowingaresomeexamplesinsentences:
Workingfromhomeisarealblessingfornewparents.Theirplayinghasimprovedgreatlyoverthelastfewmonths.
Whenwetrytousethe-ingwordintheplural,theresultisungrammatical:
XWorkingsfromhomearearealblessingfornewparents.TheirXplayingshaveimprovedgreatlyoverthelastfewmonths.
Academicdisciplinesandprofessions
Examplesoftheabstractnoncountnounsforacademicdisciplinesandprofessionsincludeart,biology,chemistry,economics,engineering,history,research,linguistics,literature,mathematics,music,physics,poetry,psychology,science,andmedicine.
Thesetermsareungrammaticalifusedintheplural:
WearestudyingtheXhistoriesofthefirstAmericans.
TheirXliteratureshavegeneratedalotofinterest.
Sportsandgames
Thenamesfornearlyallsportsandgamesareabstractnoncountnouns:chess,checkers,bridge,poker,football,baseball,soccer,andtennis.
Thesetermsareungrammaticalifusedintheplural:
ManyretiredpeopleplayXbridgesseveraltimesaweek.XBaseballsareplayedeverywhereinJapan.
Naturalphenomena
Mostforcesandeventsinthenaturalworldarenoncountnouns.Herearesomeexamples:electricity,gravity,weather,heat,cold,humidity,rain,thunder,lightning,cold,frost,time,andweight.
Thesetermsareungrammaticalifusedintheplural:
TheXheatsandXhumiditiesinthesummerarealmostunbearable.TheXgravitiesonotherplanetscanbequitedifferentfromEarth’s.
Tosummarize,wehavediscussedthreecategoriesofabstractnoncountnounsinthissection:
1.Abstractnoncountnounsderivedfromadjectivesbythesuffix-ness
2.Activities
-ingactivitywordsAcademicdisciplinesandprofessionsSportsandgames
3.Naturalphenomena
EXERCISE
1•6
IdentifyingthethreemaincategoriesofabstractnoncountnounsAlloftheunderlinedwordsinthefollowingsentencesareabstractnoncountnouns.Decidewhetherthenounis(a)aderivednounendingin–ness,(b)anactivityword,or(c)anaturalphenomenaword.Threeexamplesaregiven.
Everyphysicalobjecthasmass.
(c)naturalphenomenaCleanlinessisnexttogodliness.(saying)(a)derivednounendingin-nessSeeingisbelieving.(saying)(b)activityword
1.Accesstomusicandartisarealbenefitoflivinginthecity.
2.Wehardlyevergetrainduringthesummer.
3.Takingvacationsactuallyimprovesworkerproductivity.
4.Batterytechnologyisabalancebetweenpowerandweight.
5.Ireadmostlyfiction.
6.ToomuchTVcancausesleeplessness.
7.Astronomyhasalmostbecomeabranchofphysics.
8.Lightningandthunderscaremydogtodeath.
9.Drivingsomanyhoursatatimegivesmeterrificbackaches.
10.Increasingtheawarenessofthedangersofsmokinghasbeenveryimportant.
•2•Thedefinitearticlethe
Thedefinitearticletheisnotonlythemostcommonarticle,butalsothemostcommonlyusedwordinEnglish—twiceascommon,infact,asthenextmostcommonword,theverbbe.Wewillfirstexaminethepronunciationoftheandthenitsmeaninganduses.
Thepronunciationofthe
Likeallarticles,theisnormallyunstressed.Itispronounced/ ə/(rhymeswithduh)beforewordsbeginningwithaconsonantsound:
Theispronounced/ iy/(rhymeswithsee)beforewordsbeginningwithavowelsound:
Note:Ifthebeforeaconsonantsoundisgivenextraemphasis,itispronounced/ iy/insteadoftheexpected/ ə/,asinthefollowingsentence:
Shewasprobablythe/ iy/bestplayerIevercoached.
Inallofourdiscussionaboutthepronunciationofthe,weassume(unlessstatedotherwise)thatwearetalkingaboutthenormal,unstressedpronunciationofthe.
EXERCISE
2•1
PronunciationoftheIndicatethecorrectpronunciationofunstressedthewiththefollowingnouns.Anexampleisprovided.
Themainproblemnonnativespeakershavewiththepronunciationoftheiswhenthewordafterthehasaspellingthatcanmislead.Themostcommonmispronunciationsofthearewithwordsthatbeginwiththeletteruorh.
Typically,wordsbeginningwiththeletteruarepronouncedwithavowelsound,mostoftenwiththeschwasound,/ə/,asinunderorthenegativeprefixun-.Aswewouldexpect,unstressedtheisusuallypronounced/ ə/withthesewords,forexample:/ ə/underpass,/ ə/ugliness,/ ə/upperfloors,/ ə/Urdulanguage,/ ə/utterance.
Note:Nativespeakerspronouncetheinconsistently,soyouwilloccasionallyhear/ iy/pronunciationswhereyouwouldexpect/ ə/.
Aboutfiftywordsbeginningwiththeletteruactuallybeginwiththeconsonantysoundasintheinitialsoundofthewordsyeastandyesterday.Becausethesewordsbeginwithaconsonantsound,thearticletheispronounced/ ə/withthesewordsratherthantheexpected/ iy/.Manyoftheseexceptionalwordsarerelatedtothewordunit,forexample:union,unity,universe,anduniformareallpronouncedwiththeconsonanty,sothattheispronounced/ ə/:/ ə/unit,/ ə/union,/ ə/unity,/ ə/universe,and/ ə/uniform.Afewwordsunrelatedtounitarepronouncedwithaninitialysound:/ ə/ukulele,/ ə/utopia,and/ ə/use(thenoun,rhymingwithnoose,nottheverbuse,rhymingwithooze.)
Overtime,afewwordsspelledwiththeinitialletterhhavelosttheirinitialconsonanthsoundsothatthesewordsnowbeginwithavowelsound.Forexample,thewordshonor,
honesty,andherbnowbeginwithvowelsounds.Consequentlywepronouncethewiththesewordsas/ iy/:/ iy/honor,/ iy/honesty,and/ iy/herb.Manywordsrelatedtothewordheirarenolongerpronouncedwithaninitialhsound:/ iy/heir,/ iy/heiress,and/ iy/heirloom.
Thereisatendencyforfour-syllablewordsbeginningwithhtodroptheinitialconsonantsothatthesewordsareusedwith/ iy/:
/ iy/Hystericalpassengersfledthesceneoftheaccident.
EXERCISE
2•2
PronunciationofthebeforewordsbeginningwithuandhIndicatethecorrectpronunciationofunstressedthewiththefollowingnouns.Twoexamplesareprovided.
Oneplacewherenonnativespeakersoftenusethewrongpronunciationfortheiswhenpronouncingthenamesofindividuallettersorwhenpronouncingcertaintypesofacronymsthatspelloutabbreviationsletter-by-letterlikeUN(UnitedNations),BBC(BritishBroadcastingCorporation),GRE(GraduateRecordExaminations),andESL(Englishasasecondlanguage)—asopposedtoacronymslikeAIDS(acquiredimmunodeficiencysyndrome),NATO(NorthAtlanticTreatyOrganization),andUNICEF(UnitedNationsChildren’sFund)thatbreaktheacronymintopronounceablesyllables.
Asyouwouldexpect,ifthenameoftheletterbeginswithaconsonantsound,wepronouncetheas/ ə/,andifthenameoftheletterbeginswithavowelsound,wepronouncetheas/ iy/.Sofar,sogood.Theproblemisthatthereisnonecessaryconnectionbetweenthenamesofthelettersandtheirpronunciations.Totakethemostextremeexample,thenamefortheletterwisdouble-u,whichdescribestheshapeoftheletterandhasnothingtodowiththesoundoftheletter.Amorecommonproblemisthatthenamesofsomeconsonantsactuallybeginwithvowelsoundsratherthanwithconsonantsoundsasonewouldexpect.(Theconsonantfispronouncedwithavowelthatrhymeswithdeaf.)Sincethepronunciationoftheletter’snamebeginswithavowelsound,notaconsonantsound,wesay/ iy/fratherthanthe/ ə/f.
Thefollowingtableshowswhetherthenamesofthetwenty-sixlettersbeginwithaconsonantorvowelsoundandgivesthecorrectpronunciationoftheandtheletter.
EXERCISE
2•3
PronunciationofthebeforeacronymsthatusethenamesoflettersSelecttheproperphoneticsymbolforthecorrectpronunciationoftheprecedingtheacronymsineachofthefollowingsentences.Twoexamplesareprovided:
Sheworksforthe/ ə// iy/HHS.(DepartmentofHealthandHumanServices)Sheworksforthe/ iy/HHS.(DepartmentofHealthandHumanServices)The/ ə// iy/FHA(FederalHousingAdministration)insuresbankloansforhomebuilding.The/ ə/FHA(FederalHousingAdministration)insuresbankloansforhomebuilding.
1.The/ ə// iy/CEO(chiefexecutiveofficer)oftheircompanyjustresigned.
2.Iamenrollinginthe/ ə// iy/MBA(masterofbusinessadministration)program.3.The/ ə// iy/hospitalisrunbytheVA(DepartmentofVeteransAffairs).4.Theyliveinthe/ ə// iy/UK(UnitedKingdom).5.Igotoanexerciseclassatthe/ ə// iy/YMCA(YoungMen’sChristianAssociation).6.Wewatchedthe/ ə// iy/LPGA(LadiesProfessionalGolfAssociation)tournamentSaturday.
7.The/ ə// iy/ROI(returnoninvestment)hasmorethanmetexpectations.8.Thevaccinationprogramwassponsoredbythe/ ə// iy/WHO(WorldHealthOrganization).
9.The/ ə// iy/CAD(computer-aideddesign)programisgoingtocostafortune.10.The/ ə// iy/EPA(EnvironmentalProtectionAgency)mustapprovetheplan.
Themeaninganduseofthe
Theistheleastrestrictedarticleinitsuse.Itistheonlyarticlethatcanbefreelyusedwithallthreecategoriesofnouns:singularcountnouns,pluralcountnouns,andnoncountnouns.
Itisalsouniqueinthatitistheonlyarticlethatcanbeextensivelyusedwithpropernouns—thenamesofindividualpeopleandplaces.
Typically,wedonotusethedefinitearticlewiththenamesofindividualpeopleunlessthereisapost-nounmodifierthatprovidessomespecialinformationaboutthatperson.Comparethefollowingsentences:
Johnwentonvacationlastweek.TheJohnwhoworksinaccountingwentonvacationlastweek.
Theuseofthepost-nounmodifierwhoworksinaccountingindentifiesthespecificpersonnamedJohnthatthespeakeristalkingabout.Inthiscase,theuseofthedefinitearticlebecomesobligatory.
Oneofthefewinstancesinwhichweregularlyusethedefinitearticlewithnamesisfortitles,bothroyaltitlesandorganizationaltitles:
Byfarthemostcommonuseofthewithpropernounsisforplacenames.Pluralplacenames
aretypicallyusedwiththe.Twoespeciallycommoncategoriesarethenamesofmountainrangesandislandchains:
Theuseofthewithsingularplacenamesismuchmoreinconsistent.Herearesomecategoriesofsingularplacenamesthataretypicallyusedwiththedefinitearticle:
EXERCISE
2•4
UsingthewithpropernounsAllofthepropernounsinthefollowingsentenceshavebeenunderlined.Addthetopropernounsthatrequiredefinitearticles.Add ,thezeroarticle,topropernounsthatdonotrequiredefinitearticles.Twoexamplesareprovided.
MountSt.HelensinWashingtonStateeruptedviolentlyin1980.MountSt.Helensin WashingtonStateeruptedviolentlyin1980.
ReceptionistsuggestedthatIcontactdirectorofadmissions.ThereceptionistsuggestedthatIcontactthedirectorofadmissions.
1.AirForceAcademyislocatedinColoradoSprings.
2.AsnowstorminCascadeshasclosedHighwayI-90.
3.WashingtonMonumentisthetalleststructureinWashington,DC.
4.Dr.BrownwhomIwastalkingaboutisourdentist.
5.ThecompanyisreplacingtreasurerinJuly.
6.FaroeIslandsareoffthecoastofNorway.
7.Easterisunusuallyearlythisyear.
8.SacramentoisthelongestriverinCalifornia.
9.TheEnglishnovelistG.K.ChestertonwrotemanymysterystoriesfeaturingFatherBrown.
10.ChristmasIwastalkingaboutmusthavebeenwhenwewerestilllivingonEllsworthStreet.
Theusualmeaninganduseofthedefinitearticlethewithordinarycommonnounsisgovernedbytworules.Usethedefinitearticletheifandonlyifbothofthefollowingstatementsaboutthenounbeingmodifiedaretrue:(1)you(thespeakerorwriter)haveaspecificperson,place,thing,orideainmind,and(2)you(thespeakerorwriter)canreasonablyassumethattheintendedlistenerorreaderwillknowwhichspecificperson,place,thing,orideayoumean.Thesecondstatementisthecriticalrequirement:thatthelistenerorreadercanbereasonablyassumedtoknowwhichnounyouarereferringto.
Inpractice,thesecondrequirementisusuallymetinoneofthefollowingfourways:
previousmentiondefinedbymodifiersnormalexpectationsuniqueness
Previousmention
Usethedefinitearticlethewithaparticularnounifyouhavealreadyintroducedthenountothelistenerorreaderinaprevioussentence:
Ijustgotanewcamera.Thecamerahasanimagestabilizationfeature.
Thedefinitearticletheisusedinthesecondsentencebecausethenouncamerawasintroducedinthefirstsentence,andthuswecanreasonablyassumethatthelistenerorreaderwillknowwhichcamerawearetalkingaboutinthesecondsentence.
Inthisexample,PersonBusesthedefinitearticlebecausethenounstampshasbeenintroducedbyPersonA’squestion.Thefirstmentionofanounestablishesitsidentity.Allsubsequentreferencestothatsamenounusethetosignalthatthisisstillthesamenounthatwasestablishedearlier.
Definedbymodifiers
Evenifanounhasnotbeenpreviouslymentioned,usethedefinitearticleifthenounisfollowedbymodifiersthatservetouniquelyidentifyit.Herearetwoexampleswherethenounismodifiedbyadjective(relative)clauses:
DidyouseethemoviethatisshowingattheRoxie?
ThenounmovieisuniquelydefinedbythemodifierthatisshowingattheRoxie.
TheassignmentIjustgotincalculusisarealkiller.
ThenounassignmentisuniquelydefinedbythemodifierIjustgotincalculus.Themodifierdoesnotneedtobeafulladjectiveclause.Itcanbeassimpleasaprepositional
phrase:
ThestoreinthevillageisclosedonSundays.
Inthisexamplethenounstoreisuniquelydefinedbytheprepositionalphraseinthevillage.
Normalexpectations
Usethedefinitearticleifthenounissomethingthereadercanreasonablyexpectfromthecontextofthesentenceeveniftherehasbeennopreviousmentionofthenoun.Thisimportantuseofthedefinitearticleisoftennotunderstoodbynonnativespeakers:
Iopenedabookandcheckedtheindex.(Weexpectbookstohaveindexes.)Thescreenonmynewcomputerisflickering.(Weexpectcomputerstohavescreens.)Astormfarouttoseawasmakingthewaveshigherthannormal.(Weexpecttheseatohavewaves.)
Ilovemynewcar,butthebrakesareprettysqueaky.(Weexpectcarstohavebrakes.)
Thereisalargeandquiteidiomaticextensionofthisusagewithnamesofplaces,whichwewilldiscusslater.
Uniqueness
Weusethewiththingsthatwealreadyknowaboutbecausetheyareunique.Somethingsareuniquebecausetheyarephysicallyorlogicallyunique,forexample,thesun,themoon,thehorizon,theearth,thenorthpole,thefuture,andthepast.Morefrequently,however,wecomeacrossthingsthatareuniqueinaparticularcontextorsituation.Forexample,ifthereisonlyonefreewayintown,wewouldalwaysusethebecauseitisunique,eventhoughtherehasbeennopreviousmentionofthefreewayintheconversation.Forexample,
Theyliveontheothersideofthefreeway.
Ifyouwereintheshowerandyouheardthetelephoneringing,youmightcallout,“Cansomebodyanswerthephone?”Thewordphonehasnotbeenpreviouslymentioned,butinthiscontexttheringingofthephonemakesitunique.
Iftherewereamajorsportingeventtakingplace,everyonewouldknowwhataspeakermeantwhenheorshesaid,“Who’swinningthegame?”Thenoungameisdefinedbyitsuniquenessinthatcontext.
EXERCISE
2•5
FourreasonsforusingthedefinitearticletheAlloftheunderlinedusesoftheinthefollowingsentencesaregrammatical.Foreachsentence,identifythereasonforusingthedefinitearticle:(a)previousmention,(b)definedbymodifiers,(c)normalexpectations,or(d)uniqueness.Fourexamplesareprovided.
Acarcutrightinfrontus,andthenthecarranthrougharedlight.
(a)previousmentionNoonerecognizedthehandwritingusedontheoutsideoftheenvelope.(b)definedbymodifiersThebathroomsinkwaspluggedupagain.(c)normalexpectations(Weexpectbathroomstohavesinks.)Tidesattheequatorareverysmall.(d)uniqueness
1.Wefinallyrepaidtheloanwegotfrommyparentswhenwewerefirstmarried.
2.ThehousewasOK,butthekitchenwassmallanddark.
3.Therewasapolicemanatthedoor.Ms.Whiteaskedthepolicemanwhathewanted.
4.Theheroinesinbooksalwaysseemtobeyoungandbeautiful.
5.Everyoneisconcernedaboutincreasingpollutionintheatmosphere.
6.Wewentintoanofficebuildingandtooktheelevatortothetopfloor.
7.ThepieratSunsetBeachhasaFerriswheelandarollercoaster.
8.Thereweresometoolsleftontheporch.Iaskedeveryoneiftheyknewwhomthetoolsbelongedto.
9.Iopenedsomebooksandquicklywentthroughthetableofcontents.
10.Ihadtroublewiththequestionsaboutcompoundinterestrates.
Englishextendstheconceptofnormalexpectationstoasurprisingextentwithcommonnounsthatrefertoplaces.Hereisatypicalexample:Supposeyouareouthavinglunchwithafriend,andthetwoofyouarestartingtogobacktoyouroffice.Yourfriendstopsandsays,“Oh,Iforgot.Excusemeforaminute.Ihavetogotothebank.”Therehasbeennopreviousmentionofthewordbank.Thereisnobankinsight.Whythendidyourfriendusethedefinitearticlethewithbank?Theuseoftheseemstoviolatethecardinalruleforusingthedefinitearticlethatyou(thespeakerorwriter)canreasonablyassumetheintendedlistenerorreaderwillknowwhichspecificperson,place,thing,orideayoumean.Butinthiscasethelistenerhasnoideawhichbankthespeakeristalkingabout.Sowhyisthisusagenotonlygrammaticalbutcustomary?
Thereasonisaremarkablebroadeningofnormalexpectationstoincludeplacesthatyouwouldexpecttofindinaparticularenvironment.Youexpecttofindbanksinacityoranyurbanenvironment.Thefollowingexamplesaregroupedbyenvironment:
IfyouwereinacityinEngland,youcouldalsosay,“Let’sgotothepub.”
Thereisasimilarodduseofthewiththenamesofplacesofrecreation:
Eventhoughthelistenerhasnowayofknowingwhichmovieorparkthespeakerhasinmind(if,infact,thespeakerhasanyparticularoneinmind),itisstillconventionaltousethedefinitearticlewiththesenouns.
•3•Thesingularindefinitearticlea/an
Theliteralmeaningofthewordindefiniteis“notdefinite.”Ingrammar,anindefinitearticleisusedtosignalthatthenounitmodifieshasnotbeendefinedordetermined.Thedefinitearticletheistheopposite.Itisusedtosignalthatthenounitmodifieshasalreadybeendefinedordetermined.Comparetheunderlinedarticlesinthefollowingsentences:
Inthefirstsentence,theuseofthedefinitearticlethetellstheaudiencethatthenounitmodifieshasalreadybeendefinedordetermined.Inthesecondsentence,theuseoftheindefinitearticleatellstheaudiencethatthenounitmodifieshasnotbeendefinedordetermined.
Aversusan
Singularcountnounsareusedwiththeindefinitearticlesaandan.Thereasonwhythesingularcountnounhastwoformsishistorical.Bothaandancomefromthewordone.Overtheyears,theunstressedpronunciationofoneusedasanounmodifier(asopposedtotheuseofoneusedasnumberword)becamecontracted:theninonewaspreservedbeforewordsbeginningwithvowelsoundsandlostbeforewordsbeginningwithconsonantsounds.Sotheunstressedmodifieroneinthephraseonerockcontractedtoarockandinthephraseoneapplecontractedtoanapple.
Therulegoverningtheuseofanpertainstovowelpronunciation,notvowelspelling.Thefollowingwordsuseawherethespellingwouldseemtorequireanbecausethepronunciationofthenounsactuallybeginswitha/y/-consonantsound,notavowelsound:
aunicornauniformaunitauniversityausage
Mostofthewordsbeginningwiththeletteruareformedwithprefixes,especiallytheprefixesun-andunder-asinunfairandundercoat.Wordsbeginningwiththeprefixesun-andunder-neverbeginwitha/y/-consonantsound,soweknowthatthesewordswillalwaysbeusedwithan:
anunapprovedexpenseanunarmedpolicemananunconfirmedstatementanunderdoganundergraduateanundergroundcableanundershirtanunfairadvantage
Thereversecanalsohappen.Sometimesweuseanwherethespellingwouldseemtorequireabecausetheinitialconsonanthisnotpronounced,causingthewordtoactuallybeginwithavowelsound.Herearethemostcommonnounsandadjectiveswherethehislost:
anheiranheiressanheirloomanhonestmistakeanhonoranhonorariumanhonorarydegreeanhonorablethingtodoanhouranhourlyrate
EXERCISE
3•1
AandanwithsingularcountnounsUsetheappropriateformofthearticlesa/anwiththesingularcountnounsinthefollowingsentences.Twoexamplesaregiven.
Ithasbeen_________________honortoworkwithyou.Ithasbeenanhonortoworkwithyou.Herfirstjobwasat_________________universityinAustralia.HerfirstjobwasatauniversityinAustralia.
1.Hermotherwas_________________heirto_________________hugeranchinwestTexas.
2.Theyhad_________________advantagethatwewereneverabletoovercome.
3.Weexpect_________________announcementtobemadewithin_________________hourortwo.
4.Itwas_________________idealsolutionasfarasIwasconcerned.5._________________apple_________________daykeepsthedoctoraway.(saying)6.Itis_________________usagethatwejustdon’thearmuchanymore.7._________________attorneyfortheoppositionraised_________________objectionwehadnotexpected.
8.Thatis_________________altogetherdifferentthing.9.Itwas_________________honestdifferenceofopinion.10.Sheheld_________________honorarypositionat_________________universityin
hernativecountry.
Themeaninganduseofthesingularindefinitearticlea/an
Asthenamesingularindefinitearticletellsus,wemustusea/anwithsingularnouns.Whatisnotsoobviousiswhywecannotusethea/anwithnoncountnouns.Afterall,noncountnounscanneverbeusedintheplural,soallnoncountnounsmustbesingular.Sowhycan’tweusethesingulararticlea/anwithnoncountnouns?
Thesimpleansweristhata/anisacontractedformofthenumberwordone,andweknowthatwecannotusenumberwordswithnoncountnouns.Inthefollowingexamples,thenumberwordoneandtheindefinitearticlea/anareequallyungrammaticalwithnon-countnouns:
ThereisXonedirtalloverthegaragefloor.ThereisXadirtalloverthegaragefloor.IhaveXoneadviceforyou.IhaveXanadviceforyou.
Amoresophisticatedansweristhatwhenweattachanumbertoanoun,weareenumeratingspecificinstancesofthatnoun.Inthesentence,
Igotfourapplesatthestoreonmywayhome.
weareenumeratingfourapples.Likewise,wecanenumeratetheoccurrenceofasingleapple:
Igotoneappleatthestoreonmywayhome.
Andwecanusetheindefinitearticlea/antoenumeratetheoccurrenceofasingleapple:
Igotanappleatthestoreonmywayhome.
However,noncountnounscanneverbeindividuallyenumerated,becausenoncountnounsareentire,undividablecategoriesofthingsorideasthatcanneverbeenumeratedasspecificinstancesofacountnoun.
Whatcanbeconfusingaboutnoncountnounsisthatdespitehownoncountnounscanneverbeenumeratedassinglenouns,theyfunctionassingularnounsintermsofsubject-verbagreement.Forexample,inthesentence,
Ourcompany’ssoftwareisveryadvanced.
thesubjectofthesentence,software,isanoncountnoun,yetitentersintoasubject-verbagreementrelationshipwiththesingularverbis.Doesn’tthatmeanthatthenoncountnounsoftwareisasingularnoun?Well,yesandno.Thereisafundamentalgrammaticalrequirementthatforasentencetobeasentence,thesubjectandtheappropriateverbmustenterintoavalidsubject-verbrelationship.Sointhistechnicalgrammaticalsense,thenoncountnounsoftwarefunctionsasasingularnoun,butsolelyforthepurposeofsubject-verbagreement.However,semantically,thenounsoftware,likeallnoncountnouns,hasnonumberatall.Itisneithersingularnorplural—itisnumberless.
Acommonuseoftheindefinitearticlea/anistosignaltotheaudiencethatthespeakerorwriterisintroducingaspecificnewtopicorsubjectmattertothediscourse.Thistopic,afterithasbeenintroducedwiththeindefinitearticlea/an,willthenbeusedwiththedefinitearticletheinallsubsequentconversationorwriting:
IjustgotanewbookonLincoln.ThebookisoneofthebesthistoriesoftheperiodIhaveeverread.ThebookdealsmainlywithLincoln’srelationshipwiththemenheranagainstforthepresidency.
Thekeydifferencebetweentheindefinitearticleandthedefinitearticleisthattheuseoftheindefinitearticletellstheaudiencethatthenounitmodifiesisnewinformation,whiletheuseofthedefinitearticletellstheaudiencethatthenounitmodifiesisalreadyknowntothem.
Probably,forAmericansatleast,themostfamousspecificuseoftheindefinitearticlewasduringtheflightofApollo13,amannedflighttothemoon.Beforetheflightreachedthemoon,anoxygentankaboardtherocketexploded.ThecrewnotifiedtheflightbaseinHoustonabouttheaccidentwiththenow-famousphrase,“Houston,wehaveaproblem.”(Actually,thefamousphraseisaslightmisquotation.Whattheyreallysaidwas,“Houston,wehavehadaproblem.”)Theindefinitearticleisusedtosignaltheintroductionofaspecifictopicthatwillbenewtotheaudiencebut,ofcourse,isalreadyknowntothespeakerorwriter.
Thefollowingaresomemoreprosaicexamplesofusingtheindefinitearticletointroduceaspecificnewtopic:
CanIaskyouaquestion?Wewenttoagreatrestaurantlastnight.Didyouseeanorangenotebookintheconferenceroom?Hegaveusagoodpieceofadvice.
Weoftenusetheexistentialthere(meaning“thereexists”)withtheindefinitearticletointroduceaspecificnewsubject:
Thereisamosquitointhebedroom.ThereisaproblemIhavebeenmeaningtotalktoyouabout.Thereisastrangecarparkedinthedriveway.
Wecanevenusetheindefinitearticleforpropernouns.Forexample,itwouldbeappropriateinthefollowingsituation.ApreviouslyunknownpersonbythenameofMr.Jonescomestoyourofficeandasksthereceptionisttospeaktoyou.Thereceptionistwouldcallyouandprobablysay,“ThereisaMr.Jonesheretoseeyou.”Ifthereceptionisthadjustsaid,“Mr.Jonesisheretoseeyou,”itwouldimplythatthereceptionistexpectsyoutoalreadyknowwhoMr.Jonesis.SincethereceptionistknowsthatyoudonotknowwhoMr.Jonesis,thereceptionistusestheindefinitearticletosignalthatthepersonisknowntothespeaker,butisnotknowntotheaudience,extendingtheuseoftheindefinitearticletoapropernoun.Thefollowingaresomemoreexamplesofpropernounsusedwithindefinitearticles:
ThereisaNewYorkthattouristsneversee.SomeeconomistsexpecttoseeaEuropethatisinsteepeconomicdecline.MygrandmotherremembersaPrincetonthatnolongerexists.
Theindefinitearticlehasseveralotherusesbesidesthemainuseofintroducingaspecificnewtopic.Byfarthemostimportantoftheseisusingtheindefinitearticletointroduceanewnonspecifictopic.Inthesentence,
Doyouknowagooddentist?
thespeakerisintroducinganewtopic,butdoesnothaveasingle,specificindividualorthinginmind.Rather,thenewtopicisacategoryofpeopleorthings,notaspecificpersonorthing:
TheMarinesarelookingforafewgoodmen.(advertisingslogan)Youlooklikeyouneedafriend.WewouldlovetofindanapartmentinNewYorkthatwecouldactuallyafford.
Thefactthattherearetwousesoftheindefinitearticleoftencreatesambiguityinconversation.Forexample,ifafriendsaid,“Let’sgoouttoamovietonight,”theaudiencedoesnotknowif(1)thespeakeristhinkingofaspecificmoviethatthespeakerwantstosee(specificindefinitearticle)orif(2)thespeakerdoesnothaveaspecificmovieinmind(nonspecificindefinitearticle)andismakingabroadersuggestionofgoingtothemovies(asacategoryofactivity).Thenaturalresponseoftheaudiencetothequestionwouldbetoclarifythespeaker’sintendedmeaningbyasking,“Didyouhaveaparticularmovieinmindyouwanttosee?”Manyquestionsthatusetheindefinitearticleruntheriskofthiskindofambiguity:theaudiencecannottellwhetherthespeaker’suseofanindefinitearticleisintendedasaspecificoranonspecificarticle.
Thefollowingbitofdialogueispromptedbythedistinctionbetweenthetwokindsofindefinitearticles:
Thewaiter’squestionispromptedbytheambiguityoftheindefinitearticleinthecustomer’srequest.Thewaiterdoesnotknowifthecustomerhassomethingspecificinmindornot.Thecustomer’sresponsetellsusthattheindefinitearticlewasdefinitelynonspecific—thecustomerdidnothaveanyspecifictypeofsaladinmind.
Therearetwospecialusesofthenonspecificindefinitearticle.Thefirstistocharacterizeordefinesomeoneorsomethingasamemberofaclass.Inthesentence,
Akohlrabiisavarietyofcabbage.
theindefinitearticledoesnotrefertoasingle,specifickohlrabi,butratherisusedtodefinekohlrabiasamemberofthecabbagefamily.Thefollowingaresomemoreexamplesofthis“characterizing”useofthenonspecificindefinitearticle:
Anophthalmologistisadoctorwhospecializesinthetreatmentofeyedisordersanddiseases.
AMiataisasportscarmadebyMazda.Hiswifeisadoctoratourclinic.
Theseconduseofthenonspecificindefinitearticleistotalkingeneraltermsortomakegeneralizations.Inthesentence,
Toensureagoodcampingtrip,alwayspreparefortheworstpossibleweather.
thespeakerisnotthinkingaboutanyoneactualcampingtrip.Thespeakerisusingthenonspecificindefinitearticletosignalthatthespeakerismakingageneralizationaboutallcampingtrips.Thefollowingaremoreexamples:
Aripemelonwillsoundalittlehollowwhenthumped.Aclosegameisalwaysexcitingtowatch.Oneofthegreatesthealthrisksfortheelderlyisafall.Incaseofanemergency,donotusetheelevators.
Traditionalsayingsandaphorismsoftenusethenonspecificindefinitearticletomakegeneralizationsaboutcategoriesofthingsorpeople.Hereisanexercisejustforfun,withtentraditionalsayingsthatnearlyallnativespeakeradultsknow.(Children,especiallyyoungerchildren,areoftencompletelymystifiedbytheseexpressions.)Howmanyoftheseexpressionshaveyouheard?
1.Anounceofpreventionisworthapoundofcure.
2.Afoolandhismoneyaresoonparted.
3.Astitchintimesavesnine.
4.Itisanillwindthatblowsnogood.
5.Afriendinneedisafriendindeed.
6.Anappleadaykeepsthedoctoraway.
7.Awatchedpotneverboils.
8.Abirdinthehandisworthtwointhebush.
9.Aman’shouseishiscastle.
10.Apictureisworthathousandwords.
Someofthesesayingsaresowell-knownthatpeopleoftenjustusethefirsthalf,knowingthattheaudiencewillfillintherestofthesaying:
Anounceofprevention…Afoolandhismoney…Afriendinneed…Abirdinthehand…
Oftenwhenweusenonspecificindefinitearticlestomakegeneralizations,thenounwearetalkingaboutisactuallyametaphorforsomethingelse.HereisasayingfromtheNewTestamentfamouslyusedbyAbrahamLincolninreferencetotheconflictsbetweentheNorthandtheSouthjustpriortotheCivilWar:
Ahousedividedagainstitselfcannotstand.
Lincolnwasnottalkingaboutaspecifichouse.Infact,hewasnottalkingaboutahouseatall.Ratherhewasusingthenounhouseasametaphorrepresentingtheentirenation.
Asummaryofindefinitearticleuses
Abasicfunctionoftheindefinitearticleistosignaltheaudiencethatthespeakerorwriterisintroducinganewtopictothediscourse.Weusetheindefinitearticleintwodifferentways.Mostofthetimeweusetheindefinitearticletointroduceaspecificnewtopicthatwillbefurtherelaborated.Wehavecalledanarticleofthistypeaspecificindefinitearticle.Sometimes,however,weusetheindefinitearticleinabroaderwaytoexpressageneralfeelingormakeageneralcommentwithoutanyspecificpersonorthinginmind.Wehavecalledanarticleofthistypeanonspecificindefinitearticle.
Ofteninconversation,thetypeofindefinitearticleintendedbythespeakerisambiguousbecausetheaudiencecannottellfromthestatementwhichofthetwotypesofindefinitearticlethespeakerintended.Thatis,theaudiencedoesnotknowwhetherthespeakerhasaspecificpersonorthinginmindornot:
Weneedtostopatafillingstation.
Thespeakercouldhaveonespecificfillingstationinmind(specificindefinitearticle)ornot(nonspecificdefinitearticle),inwhichcasethespeakercouldbecontenttostopatanyfillingstation,probablythefirstoneheorshecomesto.
Thenonspecificindefinitearticlehastwoadditionaluses:
1.Tocharacterizeordefinesomeoneorsomethingasamemberofaclass.Manydefinitionsusenonspecificindefinitearticles:
Asentenceexpressesacompletethoughtandmustcontainasubjectandaverb.
2.Tomakegeneralizations.Weusethenonspecificindefinitearticletotalkingeneraltermsortomakegeneralizations:
Agoodtestnotonlyassessesthestudents’abilities,butalsoteachesthemsomethingaboutthecontent.
Thesentenceisnottalkingaboutanyactualtest,butismakingageneralizationaboutthenatureofgoodtests.
EXERCISE
3•2
ThefourusesofindefinitearticlesEachofthefollowingsentencescontainsanunderlinedindefinitearticle.Pickwhichofthefourusesoftheindefinitearticlebestdescribestheunderlinedindefinitearticles:(a)introducespecificnewtopic,(b)introducenonspecificnewtopic,(c)characterizeordefine,or(d)makegeneralizations.Fourexamplesaregiven.
IthinkIhaveabrokenboneinmylefthand.(a)introducespecificnewtopicEveryoneneedstohaveadream.(b)introducenonspecificnewtopicMydogisagoldenretriever.(c)characterizeordefineAsmalltownisagreatplacetobringupafamily.(d)makegeneralizations
1.Ifyouarestartingabusiness,youmustmakearevenueplan.
2.ThecompanyisasubsidiaryofADM.
3.Thechildrenwerefrightenedbyastrangenoisecomingfromtheattic.
4.Acontractisalegalobligation.
5.Imetafriendofyoursyesterday.
6.Thereisneverapolicemanaroundwhenyouneedone.
7.Thebookisaboutadisputedelection.
8.Agoodmanishardtofind.(saying)
9.Thepersonrentingthecottageisaretiredschoolteacher.
10.Everybodyneedsahelpinghandonceinawhile.
•4•Theindefinitearticlesome
Someisusedwithtwodifferentcategoriesofnouns:pluralcountnounsandnoncountnouns.Hereareexamplesofbothuses:
PluralnounsWehadtogetsomenewmapsforthetrip.Weneedsomeextrakeysmadeforthenewhouse.
NoncountnounsWeheardsomethunderlastnight,butwedidn’tgetanyrain.Thereissomefruitintherefrigerator.
Whentheindefinitepluralarticlesomeisusedwithpluralcountnouns,someisthesemanticcounterpartofthesingularindefinitearticlea/an,forexample:
Forthisreason,someissometimestreatedasthepluralequivalentofthesingulararticlea/an,sothatfamilyofarticleslookslikethis:
However,intermsofmeaninganduse,thereisnodifferencebetweensomeusedwithpluralcountnounsandsomeusedwithnoncountnouns.Everythingdiscussedaboutsomeinthissectionholdsequallyforpluralcountnounsandnoncountnouns.Inthesamewaythattheisusedidenticallywithallthreecategoriesofnouns,someisusedidenticallywithpluralcountnounsandnoncountnouns.Someisuniqueamongthearticlesbecausesome,unlikethearticlestheanda/an,canbe
turnedintoanindefinitepronounbydeletingthenounthatsomemodifies.Obviouslytheconversionoftheindefinitearticlesometotheindefinitepronounsomedependsonthereferenceoftheindefinitepronounbeingcleartotheaudiencefromcontext.Hereareseveralexampleswiththeindefinitearticlesomechangedintotheindefinitepronounsome:
Weoftenchangetheindefinitearticlesomeintotheindefinitepronounsometoavoidrepeatingthenounmodifiedbytheindefinitearticle.Inthefollowingsentence,
I’mmakingafreshpotofcoffee.Wouldyoulikesome?
thespeakerdoesnotwanttorepeatthenouncoffee,whichifthespeakerdid,wouldmakethefollowingperfectlygrammaticalbutveryodd-soundingsentence:
I’mmakingafreshpotofcoffee.Wouldyoulikesomecoffee?
Therepetitionofthenouncoffeemakesitsoundlikethespeakeristalkingtotwodifferentpeopleratherthanthesameperson.
Idiomaticusesoftheindefinitearticlesome
Beforediscussingthemainusesandmeaningoftheindefinitearticlesome,weneedtoidentifyandthensetasidethreeidiomaticusesoftheindefinitearticlesome.Fortunately,theseusesaresodistinctiveinformormeaningthattheyareeasilyrecognized.
Approximation
Inthisuse,somefunctionsasanadverbofapproximationwhenweestimateamount—weight,money,time,percentages,andsoon.Itmeans“nearly,”“about,”or“roughly.”Forexample:
Thetrailgainssome400feetinelevationoveritslength.Thechallengeriswinningbysome500votesatthemoment.Onlysome20percentofthequestionnaireshavebeenreturnedsofar.Thefunddriveisstillshortsome$12,000.Hewassome15minuteslatetothemeetingthathehadcalled!
Emphatic
Thisuseisalmostalwaysrestrictedtocasual,informalconversation.Whatisdistinctiveaboutthisuseisthatsomeisalwaysheavilystressed,whereasthenormalusesofsome,likeallotherarticles,areunstressed.Thisuseistypicallyusedwiththefixedphrase,“Thatwassome…”
Boy,thatwassomegamelastnight,wasn’tit?ThatwassomepartyattheBrown’s.Thatwassomeupsetinthecountyelection.
Jocular
Thisuseisaformofgood-naturedteasingamongpeoplewhoknoweachotherprettywell.Itisalsorecognizablebyadegreeofstressonsome.Whilethisdegreeofstressisnotasdramaticasthestressusedwiththeemphaticform,thestressisstillsufficienttodistinguishthisuseofsomefromthenormalunstresseduse.Thestressservestosignaltheaudience,“I’monlykidding.”Thefollowingaresomeexamplesalongwithadescriptionofthesituation:
PersonAhasjustpurchasedanewflashycar.PersonB,agoodfriend,mightsay,“Wow!Somepeoplereallyknowhowtomakeastatement!”PersonAhashostedanicedinnerparty.Oneoftheguestsmightoffertheteasingcompliment,“Somepeoplereallyknowhowtolive!”PersonAisdressedunusuallyformally.PersonBmightsay,“Somepeoplereallyknowhowtodress!”
Themeaninganduseofsome
Theindefinitearticlesomefunctionsgrammaticallythesamewaywitheitherapluralcountnounoranoncountnoun.Thereisacompletelypredictable,albeitslight,semanticdifferencebetweenthetwousesofsome.Whensomemodifiesapluralcountnoun,thereismoreofasenseofsomeasanumberwordthanwhensomemodifiesaninherentlynumberlessnoncountnoun.Comparethefollowingtwosentences:
Withthepluralnounsandwiches,someisanumberwordmeaningsomethinglike“morethanone,butlessthanawholelot.”Withthenoncountnouncoffee,someisnotanumberwordatall;rather,itismoreaquantitywordmeaningsomethinglike“amoderateamount.”Whateversemanticdifferencestherearebetweenthetwousesofsome,thedifferencesarecompletelytheproductoftheinherentdifferencesbetweenthecountandnoncountnounsthatsomemodifies.
Theindefinitearticlesomehasanimportantuniquefeature:undercertainspecificconditions,
wereplacesomewithany.Thereisnodifferenceinmeaningbetweensomeandany:anyfunctionsasadefactoalternateformoftheindefinitearticlewhoseuseisobligatoryundercertaingrammaticalconditions.Byfarthemostimportantgrammaticalconditionsunderwhichanyreplacessomeareinquestionsandnegativestatements.
Thefollowingaretwoexamplesofpositivestatements.Afterthestatementsarethesamesentencefirstinitsquestionformandtheninitsnegativestatementform:
Asyoucansee,anyhasreplacedsomeinthequestionandnegativestatementversionsoftheoriginalbasicsentence.
Whatbestcapturestherelationshipbetweensomeandanyisarulethatchangessometoanyifandonlyifcertainconditionsaremet.Wewillcallthisrule(notveryimaginatively)thesome/anyrule.Therearetwoversionsofthesome/anyrule,oneforquestionsandonefornegativestatements.
1.Some/anyquestionrule:changesometoanyifsomeisinsideaquestion.
2.Some/anynegativestatementrule:changesometoanyifsomeisinsideanegativestatement.
Whilethetwoversionsofthesome/anyruledoexactlythesamething,thedetailsofhowandwhentherulesareappliedaresurprisinglyidiosyncratictoeachversion.Infact,muchoftherestofthissectionisdevotedtoexploringthespecialconditions,exceptions,andlimitationsuniquetoeachversionoftherule.Undersomecircumstancestheapplicationofthesome/anyquestionruleiswaived—theruleisn’tusedatallwherewewouldnormallyexpectittobeapplied.Theapplicationofthesome/anynegativestatementruledependsentirelyonhowwedefinethetermnegative.ItturnsoutthatEnglishdefinesnegativeinsomesurprisinglybroadways.Sincetheapplicationofthesome/anyquestionruleandthesome/anynegativestatementrulearequitedifferentindetail,wewilldealwiththemseparately.
Thissectionontheindefinitearticlesomewillconcludewithanexaminationofthreemorevariantsofthesome/anyrule.Thesevariantsarequitedifferentbecausetheyhavenothingtodowithquestionsandnegativestatements.
Thesome/anyquestionrule
Thefollowingaresomemoreexamplesofquestionsproducedbytheregularapplicationofthesome/anyrule:
Theruleforchangingsometoanyinquestionsiscompletelyregularinthewayitworks.However,undersomeconditionstheapplicationoftheruleiswaived—thatis,wedonotapplytheruleatall;wekeepthesomeinthequestionformofthesentence.Justforeasylabeling,wewillcallquestionsthathavebeenproducedbythenormalapplicationofthesome/anyruleanyquestions.Wewillcallquestionsforwhichthesome/anyrulehasbeenwaivedsomequestions.
Wewilluseariddletobeginourdiscussionoftheconditionsunderwhichthesome/anyquestionruleiswaived:
Theanswertotheriddleisthekeytowhenwewaivethenormalsome/anyquestionrule.Wewaivetheexpectedapplicationofthesome/anyruletosignaltotheaudiencethatthequestionweareaskingisnotafullyopen-endedquestiontobetakenatfacevalue.Oftensomequestionscanberequestsorsuggestions,ratherthangenuinequestions.Forexample:
CanIgiveyousomeadvice?
Thespeakerisnotreallyaskingforpermissiontotelltheaudiencesomething.Thisisnotarealquestion,becausethespeakeralreadyknowstheanswer.Thespeakerisgoingtogiveadvicetotheaudiencewhethertheaudiencewantstoheartheadviceornot.Essentially,notapplyingthe
some/anyruletoquestionswheretheruleisnormallyexpectedsignalstheaudiencethatthequestionisnottobetakenliterally.Thesequestionsaremorelikerhetoricalquestionsthangenuinerequestsforinformation.
Oneofthemostcommoncontextsforsomequestionsiswherethepersonaskingthesomequestionisactuallymakingarequestorofferingsomething.Atarestaurant,wemightsaythistoawaiter:
Couldwegetsomemorewater,please?
Theuseofthesomequestionsignalsthat(1)wearemakingapoliterequestand(2)weanticipateapositiveresponsetotherequest.Infact,ifweweretoapplythestandardsome/anyquestionruletothisobviousrequest,theresultwouldbeungrammatical:
CouldwegetXanymorewater,please?
Thefollowingisanotheruseofthesomequestionatarestaurant.Youhavefinisheddinner,andthewaitercomestoyourtabletoinquireifanybodyatyourtablewouldlikedessert.Thewaitercanaskthequestionusingeitheranyorsome:
Ifthewaiterisatallwell-trained,heorshewouldalwaysusethesomequestionbecauseitimpliesthathavingdessertisthenormal,expectedthingtodo.Theanyquestionimpliesjusttheopposite;itisatotallyopenquestion—somepeoplehavedessert,somepeopledon’t.(Thisfurtherimpliesthatthereisnoparticularreasonforyoutohavedessert.Youmightaswellskipitandsavethecalories.)Guesswhichquestionform,theanyquestionorthesomequestion,sellsmoredesserts?
Hereisanexamplebetweenaparentandachild.Theparentcanaskaquestionabouthomeworkwitheitherformofquestion:
Theuseoftheanyquestionimpliesthattheparentgenuinelydoesnotknowifthechildhashomeworkornot.Inotherwords,theanyquestionisneutral.Theuseofthesomequestion,ontheotherhand,hasadefinitebias:theparentexpectsa“Yes”answer.Ifinsteadthechildsays,‘No,”thentheparentislikelytowantfurtherconfirmation.
EXERCISE
4•1
Usingthesome/anyquestionruleAllofthefollowingquestionscontainachoicebetweenanyandsome.Assumethatthecorrectanswerisanyunlessthereisareasontousesome,andchoosethemoreappropriateanswer.Twoexamplesareprovided.
Didwegetany/somemailtoday?Canyoupickupany/somemilkonyourwayhometonight?
1.Doesanybodyhaveany/someinformationonroadconditions?2.CanIaskyouany/somequestionsaboutthepresentation?3.Haveyouheardany/somenewsabouttheelection?4.CanIpassyouany/someoftheseexcellentrolls?5.Werethereany/somewitnessestotheaccident?6.Dotheyhaveany/somechildren?7.Haveyouheardofany/someresearchinthisarea?8.Couldwegetany/somesalesbrochuresforthenewdevelopment?9.Haveyouandyourwifebeenplayingany/somebridgelately?10.Couldyoureserveany/someroomsforusonthe16thand17th?
Thesome/anynegativestatementrule
Theindefinitearticlesomechangestoanyinnegativestatements.Comparethefollowingpairsofpositiveandnegativesentences:
Asyoucansee,inthenegativestatementversionofthesome/anyrule,thepluralindefinitearticlesomeinapositivesentencechangestoitscounterpartanyinthenegativeversionofthesamesentence.Theapplicationofthesome/anyruleinnegativestatementsisactuallyperfectlyregular(unliketheapplicationofthesome/anyruleinquestions,whichiswaivedincertaincases).Theonlycomplicationusingthesome/anyruleinnegativestatementsisdeterminingwhatexactlymakesanegativestatementnegative.
Obviously,asinthecaseoftheearliertwoexamplesentences,wecanmakesentencesnegativebyusingthenegativegrammaticalmarkersnotandno.However,thesome/anynegativestatementruleacceptsotherwaysofmakingsentences“negative”besidestheformalgrammaticalwaywithnotorno.Nolessthanfivedifferentwaysofbeingnegativetriggertheapplicationofthesome/anynegativestatementrule.Oneusesnegativegrammaticalmarkers,andtheothersusesemanticallynegativepartsofspeech.
Negativegrammaticalmarkers:not,no
Theuseofnotwithverbsisbyfarthemostcommonwayofformingnegativesentences.Noticethatthesome/anynegativesentenceruleholdsequallyforallthevarietiesofwaysthatnotisattachedtoverbs.
Noisnotnearlysocommonlyusedasnot.Noisprimarilyusedwithpredicatenouns:
Semanticallynegativeadverbs
Theuseofsemanticallynegativeadverbssuchashardly,hardlyever,never,rarely,andseldomisanotherwayofformingnegativesentences.Thesome/anynegativesentenceruleholdsfortheuseoftheseadverbs.
Semanticallynegativepreposition:without
Theprepositionwithoutisusedtocreateasemanticallynegativeadverbialprepositionalphrasethatfunctionsverymuchliketheearliersemanticallynegativeadverbs.
Semanticallynegativeverbs
Theverbsdeny,discourage,downplay,refute,andrejectaresemanticallynegativeverbsthatfollowthesome/anynegativestatementrule:
Semanticallynegativepredicateadjectives
Theadjectivesadverseto,hesitantabout,reluctantto,unhappyabout,andunwillingtoaresemanticallynegativepredicateadjectivesthatalsofollowthesome/anynegativestatementrule:
Doublenegatives
Asaninterestingasidebeforeleavingthetopicofthesome/anynegativestatementrule,lookatwhathappenstosomeandanywhenweusewhatiscalleda“doublenegative.”Adoublenegativeresultswhenweuseanegativemarkertomodifyanalreadyexistingnegativemarker.Theusualresultisthatthetwonegativescanceleachotheroutsothatthenewstatementendsuppositive:
Heisnotunhappy.=Heishappy.Idonotdisagree.=Iagree.
Nowturntothelastexampleofanegativestatementusingnoncountnounsinadoublenegative.Thefollowingistheoriginalnegativestatementandadoublenegativeversionofthesamesentence:
Thecompanywasadversetosharinganytechnicalinformation.Thecompanywasnotadversetosharingsometechnicalinformation.
Noticethatanyintheoriginalnegativesentencehaschangedbacktosomeinthedoublenegativesentence.Thetwonegativeshavecancelledeachotherout,turningtheresultingdoublenegativesentenceintoasemanticallypositivesentence.Thussomeisnowmoreappropriatethanany.
EXERCISE
4•2
Usingthesome/anynegativestatementruleAllofthefollowingsentencescontainanunderlinedindefinitepronoun,eithersomeorany.Indicateiftheindefinitepronounisusedincorrectlyaccordingtothesome/anynegativestatementrule,andsupplythecorrectindefinitepronoun.Iftheindefinitepronounisusedcorrectly,indicatethatthesentenceisOK.Twoexamplesaregiven.
1.SenatorBlatheristotallyopposedtosomesoftnessoncrime.____________2.Everyonedeniedhavingsomeinvolvementinthefailedproject.____________3.Thereisnothoughtaboutquittingsometimesoon.____________4.Therearesomegoodreasonsfordoingwhatwedid.____________5.Irarelyhavesometimetomyselfsincethebabyhascome.____________6.Politiciansalwaysminimizetheimportanceofsomebadnews.____________7.Doyouthinkyoucoulddothisjobwithoutanyhelp?____________8.Wehardlyeverseesomeofourfriendslately.____________9.Wedidn’tgetsomepizzalikeweplannedto.____________10.Iamaversetotakingonsomenewrisksatthistime.____________
Othersome/anyrules
Therearethreeremaininggrammaticalconstructionsthatcanalsotriggertheapplicationofthesome/anyrule.Rathersurprisingly,thesethreeconstructionshavenothingtodowithquestionsornegativestatements,whichareconstructionsthatwenormallyconsidertobeintrinsicallylinkedtothesome/anyrule.Moreover,thesethreeconstructionsdonotappeartoshareanycommonfeaturewitheachother.Thethreeconstructionsarethefollowing:
1.some/anyadverbialifclauserule
2.some/anyadverbialbeforeclauserule
3.some/anytoopredicateadjectiverule
Wewilldiscusseachofthesethreevariationsofthesome/anyruleindetail,andgivemoreexamples.
Some/anyadverbialifclauserule
Dependentorsubordinateadverbialclausesbeginningwithiftriggertheapplicationofthesome/anyrule.Justtoseewhattheseclauseslooklike,herearesomesentencescontainingadverbialifclauses:
Wemaycancelthepicnicifitstartstorain.Tellmeifyouaregettingtired.IwillgotothegameifIcangetanyticketsatthislatedate.
Insideanadverbialifclause,theindefinitearticlesomechangestoany.Thefirstsentenceineachofthefollowingpairsofexamplesdoesnotcontainanifclause;thesecondsentenceofthepairdoes.Notethatwherethefirstsentencehastheindefinitearticlesome,theifclauseinthesecondsentencehasany.
Oneofthedistinctivecharacteristicfeaturesofadverbialifclausesisthatwecanreadilymovethemfromtheirnormalpositionfollowingthemainclausetoapositionatthebeginningofthesentence.(Thisprocessiscalledinversion.)Itmakesnodifferencetothesome/anyrulewhethertheadverbialifclauseisinitsnormalpositionorintheinvertedposition.Thefollowingaresomeexamplesofadverbialifclauseswiththeadverbialclausefirstinitsnormalposition
andtheninitsinvertedposition:
Note:Studytheuseofcommasintheinvertedsentences.Theruleisthatifanadverbclausefollowsthemainclause,nocommaisused.However,iftheadverbclauseisinverted,itmustbesetofffromthemainclausewithacomma.
Some/anyadverbialbeforeclauserule
Thisruleismuchliketheearlieradverbialifclauserule.Anadverbialclausebeginningwithbeforetriggersthesome/anyrule.Beforelookingatthesome/anyruleindetail,considerthefollowingexamplesofwhatadverbialbeforeclauseslooklike:
Let’sheadforhomebeforeitstartstorain.IhadalreadyheardthenewsbeforeIgottotheoffice.Welookedatdozensofcarsbeforewefoundoneweliked.
Aswewouldexpect,adverbialbeforeclauses,likeadverbialifclauses,caneasilybeinvertedinfrontofthemainclause:
Beforeitstartstorain,let’sheadforhome.BeforeIgottotheoffice,Ihadalreadyheardthenews.Beforewefoundoneweliked,welookedatdozensofcars.
Insideadverbialbeforeclauses,theindefinitearticlesomechangestoany.Thefirstsentenceineachpairofexamplesdoesnotcontainabeforeadverbialclause;thesecondsentenceofthepairdoes.Notethatwherethefirstsentencehastheindefinitearticlesome,thebeforeclauseinthesecondsentencehasany.
Itmakesnodifferencewhetherthebeforeclauseisinitsnormalorinvertedposition;somestillchangestoanyineithercase:
Some/anytoopredicateadjectiverule
Whenitmodifiesapredicateadjective,theadverbtootriggersthesome/anyrule.Comparetheuseofsomeandanyinthefollowingdialogue:
Theuseofbothsomeandanyinthisdialoguearedeterminedbythegrammarofthesentencestheyarein.Switchingthetwoarticleswouldresultinungrammaticalsentences:
Thistoopredicateadjectiveconstructionisusedintwoslightlydifferentways.Inoneway,thepredicateadjectiveisfollowedbyaverbintheinfinitiveform.Thefollowingaremoreexamplesofthistype,withtheinfinitivesinitalics:
Theothercommonwayofusingthisconstructionistouseaprepositionalphrasebeginningwithforafterthepredicateadjective.Thefollowingaresomeexamplesofthisformwiththeprepositionforinitalics:
Thetwowaysofusingthetoopredicateadjectiverulearenotmutuallyexclusive.Infact,theyareoftencombined,especiallywhenthesubjectisagenericitratherthanaspecificpersonorthing.
EXERCISE
4•3
Usingthesome/anyruleinadverbialandpredicateadjectiveconstructionsAlloftheusesofanyinthefollowingquestionsarecorrect.Indicatewhichofthefollowingthreerulesgovernsthecorrectuseofanyineachquestion:(a)some/anyadverbialifclauserule,(b)some/anyadverbialbeforeclauserule,or(c)some/anytoopredicateadjectiverule.Threeexamplesareprovided.
LetmeknowifIgetanyrepliestoourmemo.(a)some/anyadverbialifclauseruleFortunately,wegotpaidbeforeanybillsweredue.(b)some/anyadverbialbeforeclauseruleThewavesaretooroughforanysurferstorisk.(c)some/anytoopredicateadjectiverule
1.Fortunately,wegotpaidbeforeanybillsweredue.
2.Heclosedthemeetingbeforeanydelegatescouldobject.
3.Hishallwastoosmalltoholdanylargemeetingsin.
4.Iamtoobusytotakeonanyadditionaljobsrightnow.
5.Ifyoufindanyextrakeys,givethemtothemanager.
6.LetmeknowifIgetanymail.
7.Ourdogsgoabsolutelycrazyifthereisanythunderduringthenight.
8.Thebreezewastoolightforanykites.
9.Thechinawastoofragileforanychildrentouse.
10.Theyactedbeforetheyhadreceivedanyauthorizationtodoso.
•5•
Thezeroarticle
ThezeroarticleinEnglishisasmucharealarticleasthezerodigitinmathematicsisarealnumber.Whenwechoosetheoptionofusingthezeroarticle,wearesendingaspecificmessage.Wearesignalingthatthenounmodifiedbythezeroarticleisbeingusedtomakeageneralizationoracategoricalstatementaboutthatnoun.
Zeroarticle,definitearticles,andindefinitearticles
Let’scomparethezeroarticleandothertypesofarticlessuchasthe:
Conferencesareanimportantwayofkeepinguponresearch.
Theconferencespresentedbythisinstitutionareusuallyexcellent.
Thezeroarticleinthefirstsentencesignalstheaudiencethatthepluralcountnounconferencesisbeingusedgenerically;thatis,itisusedtomakeageneralizationoracategoricalstatementaboutthenatureofallconferences.Theuseofthedefinitearticletheinthesecondsentencesendsquiteadifferentmessage.Thedefinitearticletellstheaudiencethatthespeakerisreferringtojustoneparticulargroupofconferences,namelytheconferencespresentedbythisparticularinstitution.
Nowcontrastthezeroarticlewiththeindefinitearticlesome:
Milkcontainslotsofcalcium.
Thereissomemilkintherefrigerator.
Inthefirstsentence,thezeroarticleusedwiththenoncountnounmilktellsusthatthesentenceismakingageneralstatementaboutthenatureofallmilk,namelythatmilkasacategoryoffoodcontainsahighamountofcalcium.Inthesecondsentence,theuseoftheindefinitearticlesomewithmilktellstheaudiencethatmilkreferstosomespecificcontainerorcontainersofmilk,whichinthiscasecanbefoundintherefrigerator.
Thezeroarticlehasonlyonemeaning:thatthenounbeingmodifiedisbeingusedgenerically
orcategorically—not,asistypicallythecasewithothertypesofarticles,torefertoparticularpersons,places,orthings.Aparticularlystrikingexampleofthisisthenearlyexclusiveuseofthezeroarticlewithsayings.Sayings,almostbydefinition,aregeneralizationsorcategoricalstatements.Inthefollowinglistofthirty-eightcommonlyusedsayings,allofthearticleshavebeenunderlined: Beautyisintheeyeofthebeholder.
Beautyisonlyskindeep.Birdsofafeatherflocktogether.Boyswillbe boys.Brevityisthesoulof wit.Charitybeginsat home.Cleanlinessisnextto godliness.Crimedoesn’tpay.Discretionisthebetterpartof valor.Familiaritybreeds contempt.Fortuneonlyknocksonce.Garbagein, garbageout.Honestyisthebestpolicy.Lifeiswhatyoumakeofit.Lightningneverstrikestwiceinthesameplace.
Make haywhilethesunshines.Mandoesnotliveby breadalone.Moneydoesn’tgrowon trees.Moneytalks.Natureabhorsavacuum.Necessityisthemotherof invention.Nothingiscertainbut deathand taxes.Oiland waterdon’tmix.Opportunityonlyknocksonce.Patienceisavirtue.Peoplewholivein glasshousesshouldn’tthrow stones.Practicemakesperfect.Ragsto riches.Rulesaremadetobebroken.Seeingis believing.Silenceisgolden.Silencemeans consent.Sticksand stonesmaybreakmybones,but wordswillneverhurtme.
Thereis safetyin numbers.Timeand timewaitfornoman.Truthisstrangerthan fiction.Varietyisthespiceof life.
Virtueisitsownreward.
Thereareatotalofseventy-fourarticlesusedinthislistofsayings.Thesubjectofeverysinglesentenceismodifiedbyazeroarticle.Mostofthenon-subjectnounsarealsomodifiedbythezeroarticle.Herearetheactualnumberandpercentageofalltypesofarticlesusedinthese
thirty-eightsayings:
ThisisobviouslyaveryatypicalsampleofEnglishbecausethereisaverydisproportionatelyhighuseofzeroarticles:84%.Thereasonisthatthereisaperfectfitbetweenthecontentofthesentences(sayings)andtheinherentmeaningofzeroarticles.Sayingsbytheirverynatureareusedtomakegeneralizationsandcategoricalstatementsabouttheworld.Andaswesawearlier,thesolefunctionofthezeroarticleistomakegeneralizationsandcategoricalstatements.
Whenanounisusedwithoutanyarticle,itissometimeshardtorecognizeanactualinvisiblearticle(thezeroarticle)isbeingusedtomakeageneralizationoracategoricalstatement.Twoclueshelpusrecognizethepresenceofazeroarticleinthesentence:1.Theuseofthepresenttense2.Theuseofadverbsoffrequency.
Present-tenseforms
Sentencesthatmakeageneralizationareusuallyinapresent-tenseform,eitherthesimplepresent,thepresentprogressive,orthepresentperfect.Inthefollowingexamples,thenounbeingusedtomakeageneralizationisunderlinedandthepresent-tenseverbisinitalics:
Ifyoulookbackatthelistofsayings,youwillseethatwithoneapparentexception,everyoneofthemthathasaverbisinapresent-tenseform.Thefollowingisanexception:
Peoplewholiveinglasshousesshouldn’tthrowstones.
Themodalverbshouldn’tisinapresent-tenseform,butitisactuallyfunctioningasapresent-tensesubjunctive.
Adverbsoffrequency
Sentencesthatmakegeneralizationsoftencontainadverbsoffrequency(examplesofadverbsoffrequencyarealways,often,generally,frequently,usually,orthenegativeadverbnever).Inthefollowingsentences,thenounbeingusedtomakeageneralizationisunderlinedandtheadverboffrequencyisinitalics:
PluralcountnounRainstormsalwayscomeinfromthesouth.Sweetapplesnevermakeverygoodpies.Dogsareusuallyquiteprotectiveoftheirterritory.Americantelevisionprogramsoftenuselaughtracks.
NoncountnounConflictalwayshasthepotentialtogetoutofhand.Woodisusuallymoreexpensivethanplastic.Miscommunicationfrequentlyresultsin misunderstanding.Sunshinegenerallygetsridofmoldypatches.
EXERCISE
5•1
UsingthezeroarticleforgeneralizationsUsetheappropriatearticleintheblankspacesinthefollowingsentences.Ifthesentenceismakingageneralization,usethezeroarticle( ).Ifthesentenceisnotmakingageneralization,usetheappropriatearticle.Twoexamplesareprovided.
olivesareusuallytoosaltyforme.IneedtogetsomeoliveswhenIgoshopping.
1.___________Westernmovieshavehorsechasesratherthancarchases.2.Alltoooften,___________politiciansjusttellpeoplewhattheywanttohear.3.Wearewaitinguntilwegetbackall___________repliestoourrequest.4.Weonlyorder___________supplieswhenwerunout.5.___________trucksareneverallowedintheleftlane.6.Wearerequiredtohave1,000unitsof___________bloodonhandatalltimes.7.___________highwaysarefreeoficeatthemoment,butIamworriedabout___________bridgesbeingslippery.
8.___________bridgesareinspectedby___________independentstateagency.9.In___________park,___________treesarebeginningtoturngreen.
10.___________treesplay___________majorroleincontrolling___________excesscarbondioxide.
11.Wemustget___________permissionslipsbeforeeveryschoolouting.12.Atthistimeofyear,___________snowcancausedelays.13.Ican’tstandwearing___________shoeswithout___________socks.14.In___________hotel’sformaldiningroom,___________jacketsand___________
tiesarerequired.15.WheneverItraveloverseas,___________sleepbecomes___________bigproblem
forme.
EXERCISE
5•2
FillinginthemissingarticlesinaparagraphFillintheblanksinthefollowingparagraphwiththeappropriatearticles.Use forthezeroarticle.Thefirstisdoneasanexample.
travelby___________airhasbecomeeveryone’sfavoritetopictocomplainabout.Weallhaveheard___________storiesabout___________passengersbeingstuckforhourson___________runwaysand___________storiesabout___________endlesslinesat___________ticketcounters.Thesearealltrue.___________problemisthatnoneofusiswillingtopaywhatitwouldcosttofix___________problems.Noneofuswantstopay___________pennymorethanwehaveto.When___________airlinestrytoraise___________pricestoimprovetheirservices,weallgoto___________airlinesthathavenotraisedtheirprices.When___________airportstrytogetapprovaltoraise___________taxestopayfor___________airportimprovements,wevote___________bondissuesdown.
•6•
Summaryofarticleusage
Aswehaveseen,eachofthefourarticlesinEnglishhasitsowndistinctfunctionandrangeofmeanings.Thischaptersummarizesthekeyideasthatyouneedtotakeawayfromthispresentation.
Thedefinitearticlethe
Usethedefinitearticletheifandonlyifbothofthefollowingaboutthenounbeingmodifiedaretrue:
1.You(thespeakerorwriter)haveaspecificperson,place,thing,orideainmind.2.You(thespeakerorwriter)canreasonablyassumethattheintendedlistenerorreaderwillknowwhichspecificperson,place,thing,orideayoumean.
Thecriticalrequirementisthesecondone,thatthelistenerorreadercanbereasonablyassumedtoknowwhichnounyouarereferringto.
Inpractice,thesecondrequirementisusuallymetinoneoffourways.
Previousmention
Usethedefinitearticlethewithaparticularnounifyouhavealreadyintroducedthenountothelistenerorreader,inaprevioussentence:
Icamedownwithacoldlastweek.ItisabsolutelytheworstcoldI’vehadinyears.
Weusethedefinitearticlewithcoldinthesecondsentencebecausethenouncoldwasintroducedinthefirstsentence.
Definedbymodifiers
Evenifanounhasnotbeenpreviouslymentioned,usethedefinitearticleifthenounisfollowedbymodifiersthatservetouniquelyidentifyit.Themodifiercanbeafull-blownadjective(relative)clauseorashortadjectivalphrase—anynounmodifierthatissufficientlydetailedtoidentifythenountotheaudience.Thefollowingexamplehasthemodifierinitalics:
ThecarparkedbehindmeisanewPorsche.
Normalexpectations
Usethedefinitearticleifthenounissomethingthatwecanreasonablyexpectfromthecontextofthesentenceeveniftherehasbeennopreviousmentionofthenoun.Forexample,inthefollowingsentence,
Onourlastflight,thepilothadtheseatbeltsignonduringthewholeflight.Weusethewithbothpilotandseatbeltsigneventhoughneitherhasbeenmentionedbefore
becausewehaveanormalexpectationthatairplaneswillhavepilotsandseatbeltsigns.Thecategoryofnormalexpectationsiswidelyextendedwithnamesofplacesthatwewouldexpecttofindincertainlocations.Soinacity,wewouldusethewithalltheplaceswewouldexpecttofindinacityeventhoughtheyhavenotactuallybeenmentioned:
thepostofficethedrugstorethepolicestationtheairportthesupermarket
UniquenessWeusethewiththingsthatwealreadyknowaboutbecausetheyareunique.Somethingsareuniquebecausetheyarephysicallyorlogicallyunique,forexample,thesun,themoon,thehorizon,theearth,thenorthpole,thefuture,andthepast.Morefrequentarethingsthatareuniqueinaparticularcontextorsituation.Ifyouoverheardsomepeoplelisteningtoagameontheradio,youmightaskthisquestion:
What’sthescore?Sinceweknowthateverygamehasascore,thereisonlygoingtobeoneuniquescoretothegamepeoplearelisteningto.Thenounscoreisdefinedbytheuniquenessofthatparticularevent.
Thesingularindefinitearticlea/an
Theindefinitearticlea/anisinherentlysingularbecauseitisderivedfromthenumberone.Acommonsourceoferrorinvolvinga/aniswhena/anisusedtomodifyanoncountnoun.Eventhoughnoncountnounsaregrammaticallysingularasfarassubject/verbagreementisconcerned,noncountnounsaresemanticallynumberless—theyareneithersingularnorpluralandthuscannotbeusedwithanynumberwords,includingthesingularindefinitearticlea/an.Forexample,inthesentence,
WehaveXahighrespectforourmayor.aisungrammaticalbecauseitmodifiesthenoncountnounrespect.
Inonerespect,a/anisthecompleteoppositeofthe:a/ansignalstotheaudiencethatthenouna/anmodifiesisnewinformation.(Theisjusttheopposite:thesignalsthattheinformationisalreadyknowntotheaudience.)Themostcommonfunctionfora/anistointroduceaspecificnewtopictothediscourse,oftenbychangingthesubject.Theuseofainthesentence,
Wesawareallygoodprogramontelevisionlastnight.
announcesanintenttotalkabouttheTVprogram.Wehavecalledthisuseoftheindefinitearticleaspecificindefinitearticlebecauseit
introducesaspecificnewtopic.Anonspecificindefinitearticleismoreofageneralcomment.Ifapersonsays,
Ineedaglassofwater.thepersondoesnothaveaspecificglassofwaterinmind,noristhepersonintroducingaglassofwaterasanewtopicofconversation.
Therearetwoadditionalusesofnonspecificindefinitearticles:
1.Tocharacterizeordefinesomeoneorsomethingasamemberofaclass.Manydefinitionsusenonspecificindefinitearticles:
Anibexisaspeciesofwildgoat.2.Tomakegeneralizations.Weusethenonspecificindefinitearticletotalkingeneralterms:
Agoodplaniseasytounderstandandeasytoimplement.
Thesentenceisnottalkingaboutanyactualplan,butismakingageneralizationaboutthenatureofgoodplans.
Theindefinitearticlesome
Someisusedwithtwodifferentcategoriesofnouns:pluralcountnounsandnoncountnouns.Whensomeisusedwithpluralcountnouns,someisthepluralcounterpartofthesingularindefinitearticlea/an.
Theindefinitearticlesomehasanimportantuniquefeature:undercertainspecificconditions,wereplacesomewithany.Thereisnodifferenceinmeaningbetweensomeandany:anyfunctionsasadefactoalternateformoftheindefinitearticlewhoseuseisobligatoryundercertaingrammaticalconditions.Byfarthemostimportantgrammaticalconditionsunderwhichanyreplacessomeareinquestionsandnegativestatements(calledthesome/anyruleinthisbook).Sincethechangeofsometoanyissomewhatdifferentinquestionsandnegativestatements,wedealwiththemseparately.
Some/anyquestionrule
Herearetwoexamplesofthestandardapplicationofthesome/anyquestionrule:
Theproblemisthatundercertainconditionswewaivetheapplicationofthesome/anyquestionrule;thatis,somedoesnotchangetoanyinquestions.Themostcommonconditionunderwhichthesome/anyquestionruleiswaivediswhenthepersonaskingthequestionisactuallymakingarequestorofferingsomething.Inotherwords,thequestionformisnotactuallybeingusedasagenuinerequestforinformation.Atarestaurant,wemightsaythefollowingtoawaiter:
Couldwegetsomemorewater,please?Theuseofthesomeratherthantheexpectedanyquestionsignals(1)thatwearemakingapoliterequest,notaskingagenuinequestion,and(2)thatweanticipateapositiveresponsetotherequest.Infact,ifweweretoapplythestandardsome/anyquestionruletothisobviousrequest,theresultwouldbeungrammatical:
CouldwegetXanymorewater,please?
Some/anynegativestatementrule
Theindefinitearticlesomechangestoanyinnegativestatements.Comparethefollowingpairs
ofpositiveandnegativesentences:
Asyoucansee,inthenegativestatementversionofthesome/anyrule,thepluralindefinitearticlesomeinapositivesentencechangestoitscounterpartanyinthenegativeversionofthesamesentence.
Thedifficultywithapplyingthesome/anynegativestatementruleisrecognizingthesurprisinglydiversevarietyofgrammaticalconstructionsthattriggertheapplicationofthesome/anynegativestatementrule.Therearenolessthaneightdifferenttriggersfortheapplicationoftherule.Someofthesetriggersareobvious,somemakealittlesense,andsomearequitepuzzling.Thefollowing,listedinroughapproximationofpredictability,aretheeighttriggersforthesome/anynegativestatementrule:
1.Negativegrammaticalmarkers:not,no
2.Semanticallynegativeadverbs:hardly,hardlyever,never,rarely,seldom
3.Semanticallynegativepreposition:without
4.Semanticallynegativeverbs:deny,discourage,downplay,refute,andreject
5.Semanticallynegativepredicateadjectives:adverseto,hesitantabout,reluctantto,unhappyabout,andunwillingto
6.Adverbialifclauses
7.Adverbialbeforeclause
8.toopredicateadjective
Thezeroarticle,
Whenwechoosetheoptionofusingthezeroarticle,wearesendingaspecificmessage.Wearesignalingthatthenounthezeroarticlemodifiesisbeingusedtomakeageneralizationoracategoricalstatement.HereisafamouslinefromPresidentRoosevelt’sFirstInauguralAddressin1933:
Theonlythingwehavetofearis fearitself.
Thenounfearisusuallyusedasacountnoun,butinthisquotetheuseofthezeroarticletellsusthatthenounfearisbeingusedasanabstractcategory.Rooseveltveryskillfullyusesthezeroarticletopersonifyfearasanactualmalevolententityinitsownrightthatwemustfight.
Twoclueshelpusrecognizethepresenceofazeroarticleinthesentence:theuseofthepresenttenseandtheuseofadverbsoffrequency.
Present-tenseforms
Sentencesthatmakegeneralizationsareusuallyinapresent-tenseform,eitherthesimplepresent,thepresentprogressive,orthepresentperfect.Inthefollowingexamples,thenounbeingusedtomakeageneralizationisunderlined,andthepresent-tenseverbisinitalics:
Countnoun
Adverboffrequency
Sentencesthatmakegeneralizationsoftencontainadverbsoffrequency(e.g.,always,often,generally,frequently,usually,orthenegativeadverbnever).Inthefollowingsentences,thenounbeingusedtomakeageneralizationisunderlinedandtheadverboffrequencyisinitalics:
PluralcountnounRainstormsalwayscomeinfromthesouth.Sweetapplesnevermakeverygoodpies.Dogsareusuallyquiteprotectiveoftheirterritory.Americantelevisionprogramsoftenuselaughtracks.
NoncountnounConflictalwayshasthepotentialtogetoutofhand.Woodisusuallymoreexpensivethan plastic.Miscommunicationfrequentlyresultsin misunderstanding.Sunshinegenerallygetsridofmoldypatches.
Nowthatyouhavereviewedthefourcategoriesofarticles—thedefinitearticlethe,theindefinitearticlea/an,some/any,andthezeroarticle—youcanreferbacktothischapterwhenyouneedtorefreshthekeypoints.
•II•
DETERMINERS
•7•
Anintroductiontodeterminers
Inthissectionwewilllookindetailattheuseandmeaningsofthemorecommonandimportantdeterminerswithaspecialemphasisonthosedeterminersthatcausetroublefornonnativespeakers(andoftentimesfornativespeakersaswell).
Thetermdeterminerisusedintwoslightlydifferentways.Informalgrammaticalstudies,determinerisusedbroadlytoincludetheentireclassofpre-adjectivenounmodifiers(includingthearticlestheanda/an).InEnglishlanguagetextbooks,determinerisusuallyusedmorenarrowlytorefertoalldeterminersexceptforthearticlestheanda/an(andsometimessome).Thereisnorealconflictbetweenthesedefinitions:articlesare,infact,asubclassofdeterminers.Textbooks(quitereasonably)separateoutarticlesfromtheotherdeterminersforapracticalpedagogicalreason:articlesrequiremuchmoreextensivetreatmentthantheotherdeterminers.
Letusbeginbydefiningwhatdeterminersare(definingdeterminerhereinthebroadersensethatincludesarticles).Determinersareaspecialgroupofpre-adjectivenounmodifiers.Determinersareadjectivesonlyinthewidestsensethatdeterminers,likeadjectives,alsomodifynouns.Determinersdifferfromwhatwewillnowcall“trueadjectives”bothsemanticallyandgrammatically.
Semantically,thereisabasicdifferenceinmeaningbetweendeterminersandtrueadjectives.Trueadjectivesdescribesomecharacteristicorpropertyoftheparticularnounstheymodify,butdeterminersdonot.Alldeterminershavethefunctionofhelpingtheaudience(thelistenerorreader)determinewhichnounthespeakerisreferringto.Infact,thisiswherethemeaningofthegrammaticaltermdeterminercomesfrom:determinershelp“determine”whichparticularnounaspeakerorauthormeans.Comparethetrueadjectivelargeandthedeterminertheseinthefollowingsentence:
Weneedtomovetheselargeboxesintothehall.
Inthissentence,thetrueadjectivelargeisusedtodescribeapropertyorcharacteristicofthenounboxes—theirphysicalsize.However,thedeterminerthesedoesnotdescribeanypropertyphysicallyinherentintheseboxes.Thereisnopropertyof“these-ness”thattheseboxesthemselvespossess.Thefunctionofthedeterminertheseistohelpthelisteneridentifywhichparticularsetofboxesthespeakeristalkingabout.Theseidentifiestheboxesasbeingtheonesnearerthespeaker(asopposedtothoseboxes—theonesfartherawayfromthespeaker).
Note:thedeterminertheselocatestheboxesinspaceatthisparticularmomentintime.It
reallyhasnothingtodowiththeintrinsicnatureoftheboxesatall,onlywheretheyhappentobeatthemomentinreferencetothespeakerandaudience.Forexample:
Wefinallyfoundagooddentist.
Theadjectivegooddescribesapropertyorqualitythespeakerattributestothespeaker’sdentist,thequalityofbeinggood.Thedetermineradoesnotattributeanycomparablepropertytothedentist.Itdoes,however,giveusaverydifferentkindofinformation:ittellsusthatthespeakerofthesentencedoesnotexpectus,theaudience,toalreadyknowtheparticulardentistthespeakeristalkingorwritingabout.Thisinformation(unliketheinformationcontainedintheadjectivegood)hasabsolutelynothingtodowithanycharacteristicorpropertyinherentinthespeaker’sdentist.Theuseofahaseverythingtodowiththerelationshipandstateofknowledgebetweenthespeakerandtheaudienceandverylittletodowiththeinherentnatureofdentists.
Aswehaveseenfromthesetwoexamples,determinersareakindofcontextualaidthatspeakersorwritersusetohelptheiraudiencetellwhichparticularnounornounstheyarereferringtoatthemoment.Trueadjectives,ontheotherhand,arelikedescriptivetagsthatspeakersorwritersattachtoparticularnounsandwhichlastforthedurationofthatparticularlanguageevent.
EXERCISE
7•1
DistinguishingdeterminersfromtrueadjectivesbymeaningThefollowingsentencescontainoneormoreunderlinednounmodifiers.Foreachunderlinednoun,decideonlyonthebasisofmeaningwhether(a)themodifierisadeterminerthathelpsthereaderidentifywhichnounthewriterisreferringtoor(b)themodifierisatrueadjectivethatdescribessomeaspectorfeatureofthenounitself.Twoexamplesareprovided.
Fortunately,wetookmorefoodthanweabsolutelyneeded.determinerWealwaystrytoeatfreshfruitforbreakfast.trueadjective
1.Hehastokeepaccuraterecordsofalltheexpenses.___________2.Sitatwhatevertableyouwant.___________3.Theystayedatourhouseoverspringbreak.___________4.Theplaywasatremendoussuccess.___________5.Somepeoplehadtoleaveearly.___________6.Thethickdrapeskepttheroomdarkandsurprisinglywarm.___________7.Everydayisacompletelynewchallenge.___________8.Twopeoplewerewaitingoutsidetheoffice.___________
9.Thewarmweatherwasmakingmesleepy.___________10.Ifeltasharppaininmyknees.___________
Grammatically,therearethreeformaldifferencesbetweendeterminersandtrueadjectives:(1)comparativeandsuperlativeforms,(2)abilitytofunctionaspronouns,and(3)wordorder.
Comparativeandsuperlativeforms
Thevastmajorityoftrueadjectiveshavecomparativeandsuperlativeforms:someformedwith-erand-est,othersformedwithmoreandmost.
Determinersdonothavecomparativeorsuperlativeforms.Attemptstomakethemcomparativeorsuperlativeproduceludicrousresults:
EXERCISE
7•2
DistinguishingtrueadjectivesfromdeterminersbyusingcomparativeandsuperlativeformsIdentifywhichofthefollowingunderlinednounmodifiersaretrueadjectivesandwhicharedeterminers.
Confirmyouranswersbyputtingtheunderlinedadjectivesintothecomparativeandsuperlativeforms.Thetrueadjectiveswillmakegrammaticalcomparativeandsuperlativeforms,butthedeterminerswillnot.Twoexamplesareprovided.
Thestormbroughtwithitwildwinds.
wild—trueadjective:comparative:wilder;superlative:wildestBothsideshaveagreedtobindingarbitration.Both—determiner:comparative:Xboth-er;superlative:Xboth-est
1.Weweredelightedbyourunexpectedaward.
2.IlikeditsomuchIhadadoublehelping.
3.Ifinallypassedmylastqualifyingtest.
4.Webeganarapiddescentdowntheicypath.
5.Neithercandidatehadenoughvotestowinoutright.
6.Wegotanenthusiasticapprovalforourrevisedplans.
7.Thatcoffeeisnotverygood.
8.Iwashedallthedirtydishesthatwerestackedupinthekitchen.
9.Therewasanamazingrumorgoingaroundtheofficethismorning.
10.Theyhadenoughmoneytorentabetterapartment.
Abilitytofunctionaspronouns
Determinershaveanunusualcharacteristic:mostofthemcanbeturnedintopronounsthatreplacethenounsthatthedeterminersmodify.Inthesentence,
Ithoughtthelastquestionwasthehardestone.
thedeterminerlastcanbeusedasapronounreplacingthenounquestionthatitmodifies:
Ithoughtthelastquestionwasthehardest.
Notethattheinformationcontainedinthenounbeingmodifiedistotallylostintheprocess.Inotherwords,apronounderivedfromadeterminerrequiresthelistenertoknowfromcontextwhatthatnewlycreatedpronounrefersto,becausethenounitmodifiedhasbeendeletedfromthenewsentence.Asyoumightexpect,thisconstructionisprimarilyusedincasualconversationwherethelistenercaneasilyfillinwhatismissinginthelanguageofthesentence.
Herearesomemoreexampleswiththeunderlineddeterminerinthefirstofthepairplayingtheroleofapronouninthesecondofthepair:
Neitheronehaslivedherelong.(modifier)Neitherhaslivedherelong.(pronoun)Takeanybicyclethatyouwant.(modifier)Takeanythatyouwant.(pronoun)Manypeoplearecalled,butfewpeoplearechosen.(modifier)Manyarecalled,butfewarechosen.(pronoun)Whichjacketdoyoulikethebest?(modifier)Whichdoyoulikethebest?(pronoun)EveryonewantstogetoneofthosenewiPads.(modifier)Everyonewantstogetoneofthose.(pronoun)
Notethatinthelastexample,thepronounthosereplacesnotonlythenouniPads,butalsothemodifyingadjectivenew.
EXERCISE
7•3
TurningdeterminersintopronounsEachofthefollowingsentencescontainsanunderlineddeterminer.Turnthedeterminersintopronouns;thenmakethenecessarydeletionsorchanges.Anexampleisprovided.
Doyouhaveenoughmoney?
Doyouhaveenough?
1.Itishardwhenbothchildrenareoutofschoolatthesametime.
2.Takewhicheverseatyouwant.
3.Eachstormseemsworsethanthepreviousone.
4.Theaudiencewillhaveafewquestionstoaskthespeaker.
5.Theywillprobablyacceptwhateverofferyougivethem.
6.Wecouldn’tdecidewhichmoviewewantedtosee.
7.Unfortunately,wehadlittletimetospare.
8.Thefirstpancakealwaysseemstosticktothepan.
9.MostchildrenintheUnitedStatesgotopublicschools.
10.Thisideaisnevergoingtowork.
Aswewouldpredict,trueadjectivescannotfunctionaspronouns.Inthesentence,
Wecametoanimportantconclusion.
wecannotdeletethenounconclusionandturnthetrueadjectiveimportantintoapronoun:
XWecametoanimportant.
WhathasbeenjustpresentediscertainlythecaseforformalEnglish;however,casualspokenEnglishcansometimesplaybyadifferentsetofrules.Ifthetrueadjectiveisbyitself,thatis,notprecededbyanarticle,wecanturnthetrueadjectiveintoakindofpseudo-pronoun:
Wejustboughtnewchairsforthelivingroom.
Wecandeletethenounchair,changingthetrueadjectivenewintothefunctionalequivalentofapronoun:
Wejustboughtnewchairsforthelivingroom.
Thenewpseudo-pronounnewnowcarriesaprimarysentencestressinplaceofthesecondarystressthattheoriginaltrueadjectivenewcarried.Herearesomemoreexamplesoftrueadjectivesturnedintopseudo-pronouns:
Ireallylikespicyfood.(adjective)Ireallylikespicyfood.(quasi-pronoun)Wepreferredwinewithpasta.(adjective)Wepreferredwinewithpasta.(quasi-pronoun)IalwaysbuycheapairlineticketswhenIflydomestic.(adjective)IalwaysbuycheapairlineticketswhenIflydomestic.(quasi-pronoun)
Wordorder
Themostimportantgrammaticaldifferencebetweendeterminersandtrueadjectivesiswordorder:determinersmustprecedetrueadjectives.Itisthemostimportantdifferencebecausewheneverthereisbothadeterminerandanadjectivemodifyingthesamenoun,theusermustdecidewhichmodifiersaredeterminersandwhicharetrueadjectivesinordertoputthemintotheircorrectleft-to-rightorder.Thefollowingaresomeexampleswiththedeterminersandadjectivesunderlinedandlabeled:
Ifwetrytoputthetwomodifiersinreverseorderwiththeadjectiveprecedingthedeterminer,theresultis,ofcourse,completelyungrammatical:
EXERCISE
7•4
Puttingdeterminersandtrueadjectivesinthecorrectleft-to-rightorderEachofthefollowingsentencescontainsapairofblankspaces.Attheendofeachsentencearetwonounmodifiers—oneatrueadjectiveandoneadeterminer(inalphabeticalorder).Decidewhichisthetrueadjectiveandwhichisthedeterminer,andputtheminthecorrectleft-to-rightorder.Twoexamplesareprovided.
Shehasreceivedseveralmajorawardsforherphotography.major,severalTherewerethreebrightstarsontheeasternhorizon.bright,three
1.After______________________starts,Ifinallygottherightanswer.afew,false2.Thedetectivenoticed______________________scarsonthevictim’sface.numerous,parallel
3.______________________blanketsneedtobecleaned.those,woolen4.Thepatientwastaking______________________breaths.many,shallow5.______________________landscapesneedmoregreenspace.most,urban6.______________________jobspayaverygoodwage.beginning,few7.______________________outcomeshouldhavebeenanticipated.poor,sucha8.______________________guessturnedouttobefartoolow.best,my9.Welookedat______________________housesovertheweekend.comparable,several
10.Theirprogramhasproduced______________________physicians.dozensof,local
Determinersarearemarkablyunrulypartofspeech.Thereisnouniversallyacceptedterminologyfortalkingaboutdeterminers.Inthisbookweuseabroaddefinitionofdeterminerthatincludesnotonlyarticles,butalsoentirepossessivenounphrases:
Theyannouncedthefirst-placewinner’sprize.
Thekeycharacteristicthatalldeterminersinthisbookshareisthatwecansubstitutethebasicdeterminersforthem(i.e.,articles,demonstratives,andpossessives):
Inthisbookwefocusprimarilyonthemeaninganduseofthosedeterminersthataremostlikelytocauseproblemsfornonnativespeakers(andnotjustafewnativespeakersaswell).
•8•
Definitedeterminers
Therearetwomaintypesofdeterminers:definitedeterminersandquantifiers.Definitedeterminersservetospecificallydefinethenounmodifiedbythedeterminers.Quantifiersaredeterminersthatspecifythequantityoramountofthenounbeingmodified.Wewillexploredefinitedeterminersfirstandthenturntoselectedquantifiers.
Theprototypicaldefinitedetermineristhedefinitearticlethe.Therearethreemaintypesofdefinitedeterminers:
1.definitearticlethe2.demonstrativedeterminersthis,that,these,andthose3.possessivedeterminerssuchaspossessivepronouns(my,our,your,his,her,its,their),possessivenouns(Mary’s,Henry’s),andpossessivenounphrases(theschool’s,mostoftheteam’s)
Theuseoftheestablishesthatboththespeakerandtheaudienceknowwhichspecificorangesthespeakerisreferringto.SincethewasdiscussedingreatdetailinPartI,itwillnotbediscussedfurtherinPartII.
Iwanttogettheorangesthatareonsale.
Demonstrativedeterminers
Thedemonstrativedeterminersarethis,that,these,andthose.Thisandthataresingular;theseandthoseareplural.
Thedifferencebetweenthis/theseontheonehandandthat/thoseontheotherismuchmorecomplicatedthanthesimplenumericaldistinctionbetweenthis/theseontheonehandandthat/thoseontheother.Generallyspeaking,this/thesehaveasenseof“closeness”andthat/thosehaveasenseof“distance.”Theclosenessanddistancedistinctioncanbeinspace,time,oremotionaldistance.
SpaceThishouse[thecloseroftwohouses]hasablueroof.Thathouse[themoredistantoftwohouses]hasaredroof.Itookthesepictures[thecloserones],butnotthosepictures[themoredistantones].
TimeIwasabletofinishtheprojectthisweekbecauseIhadmoretimethanIdidthatweek[aweekatsomemoredistanttimeinthepast].
Didyoulikethesemovies[theonesthatwejustsaw]betterthanthosemovies[theoneswesawearlier]?
EmotionaldistanceIlikethisnewworkscheduletheyaretalkingabout.Idon’tlikethatnewworkscheduletheycameupwith.Ilikethiswaiter,don’tyou?Thatwaiterreallyirritatesme.Iamgoingtogetsomemoreofthesedeliciousnuts,wouldyoulikesome?Thosecheeseballsaretoospicyforme.
Everythingelsebeingequal,wetendtousethisandtheseforpeopleandthingswelikeorfeelpositiveaboutandthatandthoseforpeopleandthingswedonotlike.
Previousreference
Inwriting,especiallymoreformalwriting,weusedemonstrativedeterminersalongwithcollectivenounstoreferbacktopreviousmaterial.Anexampleofthisfollows:
Contactsports,especiallywheretherearesharporrepeatedblowstothehead,maybemuchmoredangerousthanpreviouslythought.Thebrainsofyounggirlsareespeciallysusceptibletothiskindofinjury.
Usingthedemonstrativedeterminerthiswithanabstractcollectivenounlikekindisawayofreferringtoandsummarizingpreviouslystatedinformationwithouthavingtorepeattheactualwords.
those+noun+restrictiveadjectiveclause
Wecanusethedemonstrativedeterminerthosetospecifyanounthatwillbefurtheridentifiedbyinformationinarestrictiveadjectiveclausethatfollowsthenoun.Ineffect,usingthosealertstheaudiencethatthenounthosemodifiesisgoingtobefurtherdefined.Hereisanexampleofthisuseofthosewiththerestrictiveadjectiveclauseunderlined:
Willthosestudentswhoneedacopyofthenewschedulepleaseseeme?
Thissentencewouldstillbegrammaticalifwedeletedthedemonstrativedeterminer:
Willthosestudentswhoneedacopyofthenewschedulepleaseseeme?
Thepurposeofusingthoseistoemphasizethattheinformationgivenpertainsonlytotheidentifiedgroup,whichisexactlywhatwewouldexpectademonstrativedeterminertodo.
Pleasegivemethoseformsthatyouhavealreadycompleted.Thosepeoplewhodidn’tgetflushotsthisyeararetakingabigrisk.Thepoliceareinterviewingallthosepeoplewhosawtheaccident.Thosecarsthathavedefectiveairbagsarebeingrecalled.
Introduceanewtopic
Ininformalconversation,thisandthesecanbeusedtointroduceanewtopic.Forexample,inthefollowingphrase,
Therewasthisguyatthepartylastnight…
theuseofthissignalstwothingstothelistener:(1)thespeakerhasaveryspecificpersoninmindbutisawarethatthelistenerdoesnotknowyetwhothespeakeristalkingabout,and(2)thespeakerisintroducingthispersonasanewtopicofconversation.Accordingly,wewouldexpectthespeakertoelaborateonwhatwassointerestingaboutthatperson.Thefollowingsentencewiththeseissimilar:
Ralph’sbosssaidthathehadtheseconcerns.
Again,theuseofthesesignalsthat(1)Ralph’sbosshasveryspecificconcernsinmindand(2)theconcernshavenowbeenintroducedasanewtopicofconversation.
Possessivedeterminers
Possessivedeterminersarepossessivepronouns,possessivenouns,andpossessivenounphrasesthatmodifyanddefineafollowingnounornounphrase.Inthesentence,
Ifinallyfoundmycarkeysinthebackofachair.
thepossessivedeterminermyspecificallydefinesthenounmodifiedbythedeterminer.Inthiscase,thepossessivedeterminertellstheaudiencewhosecarkeyswereinthebackofthechair.
Possessivepronouns
Thefollowingaresomeexamplesofeachofthethreegrammaticaltypesofpossessivedeterminer:
PossessivepronounsHisanswercameasacompletesurprise.Ourpositiononthismatterisperfectlyclear.WeplacedtheTVwhereitsscreenwasvisiblefromeverywhereintheroom.
Oneconfusingaspectaboutpossessivepronounsisthattherearetwoseparatesetsofthem:onesetthatfunctionsastruepronounsandasecondsetthatfunctionsaspossessivedeterminers.Comparetheunderlinedpronounsinthefollowingpairofsentences:
Inthefirst,thepossessivepronounmineisfunctioningasatruepronoun,thecomplementofthenounbook.Wecanconfirmthisanalysisbyreplacingthepossessivepronounminewiththepersonalpronounit:
Inthesecond,thepossessivedeterminermyfunctionsasanadjectivemodifyingthenounbook.Ifweperformthesametestandreplacemywiththepersonalpronounit,theresultisnonsense:
Thereasonwhythetestdoesn’tworkonthissentenceisthattobegrammaticalthethird-personpronounitmustreplacetheentirenounphrase,notjustapartofit:
Wecanalsoeasilyconfirmthebasicdifferencesbetweenthepossessivedeterminermyandthepossessivepronounminebytryingtoswitchthemforeachother:
XExcuseme,Ithinkthatisminebook.
XExcuseme,Ithinkthatismy.
Herearethecompleteparadigmsforbothsetsofformsofpossessives:
Youmayhavenoticedthatalloftheformsofthepossessiveadjectiveandpossessivepronounaredifferent,withtwoexceptions:hisandits.Thetwousesofhisdonotposeanyrealproblems,butthetwousesofitscanleadtoconfusion.Inthethird-personsingular,referringtoabstractionsorotherinanimateobjects,theformitsisusedforbothpossessivedeterminersandpossessivepronouns.
Ifitisimportanttotellwhichoneiswhich,theycanbedistinguishedbyposition.Whenusedasapossessivedeterminer,itsmustprecedethenounitmodifies:
Thedoghaslostitstoyboneagain.
Whenitsisusedasapossessivepronoun,itsmustoccurinapositionthatapronounornouncanoccupy:
Thecat’sfoodisontheshelf;its[referringtothedog’sfood]isunderthesink.
Itsisinanounposition:itsisthesubjectoftheverbis.However,thereisaconsiderableusageproblemdistinguishingthepossessivedeterminerits
fromit’s,thecontractedformofitis.Youmightnotthinkthatconfusingthesetwoformswouldposesuchaproblem;afterall,thecontractedformisspelleddifferently—withanapostrophe.
Theproblemisthatnativeandnonnativespeakersalikeassociatetheuseofanapostrophewithpossession.Iftheman’s,theperson’s,thenation’s,andthestudent’salluseapostrophesandtheyareallpossessive,itisveryeasytoovergeneralizeandincorrectlyspellthepossessivedetermineritsXi-t-’-stofollowthesamepattern.Ifthefollowingsentenceswerepartoflengthyparagraphs,doyouthinkyouwouldhavenoticedthatthepossessivedeterminerswereincorrect?
Thecompanyisthinkingofchangingit’sadvertisingagency.Ihopetosubmitit’sfinaldesignsometimenextweek.It’saterribledisease,butnoknowswhatit’scauseis.Thegameisprettycomplicated,butit’sbasicpremiseissimpleenough.
Hereisaveryhelpfulwaytodistinguishthepossessivedetermineritsfromthecontractionofitis:theit’sexpansiontest.Anytimeyouuseit’s,checktoseeifit’sreallyisacontractionbyexpandingtheit’sformbackintotwoindependentwords:itis.Theresultwillimmediatelytellyouwhetherit’sisthecontractionofitisoramisspelledformofthepossessivedeterminerits.
Let’sapplytheit’sexpansiontesttothefourexamplesentences:
Notethatinthethirdsentence,theit’sexpansiontestisappliedtwice:thefirsttestshowsthatthefirstit’sisindeedacontractionofitis;thesecondapplicationshowsthatthesecondit’sisincorrectlyused.
EXERCISE
8•1
Usingtheit’sexpansiontesttodistinguishthepossessivedetermineritsfromthecontractionofitisApplytheit’sexpansiontesttothefollowingsentencestodeterminewhetherit’siscorrectlyused.Rewritethesentencecorrectlyusingthepossessivedeterminerasneeded.Twoexamplesareprovided.
Theboathadalreadyleftit’sberthatthedock.itsExpansiontest:XTheboathadalreadyleftitisberthatthedock.Ican’thearthemverywell;it’saterribleconnection.Expansiontest:OKIcan’thearthemverywell;itisaterribleconnection.
1.I’mafraidthatit’saproblemwehavenoeasysolutionfor.
2.Likemanyoldercities,it’sdowntownhassufferedextensivedecay.
3.Afterthebankruptcy,it’sassetswerefrozenbythecourt.
4.It’sasolutioninsearchofaproblem.
5.Imustsay,it’sarchitecturecameasanabsolutesurprise.
6.Fortunately,it’slimitationsarewellknown.
7.Themoviewasveryaffecting;it’sfinalsceneswerereallymoving.
8.It’sacontroversythatneverseemstoend.
9.Wehavebeendiscussingit’ssurprisingsuccess.
10.Thefacilityhastotallyoutgrownit’smaximumcapacity.
Possessivenouns
Thesearestand-alonenounswithoutanykindofmodifiers(becauseifthenounshavemodifiers,theyarenounphrases).Moststand-alonenounsaregoingtobepropernouns,indefinitepronouns,andpluralnounsusedwithzeroarticlestomakegeneralizations.
Gary’smothercalledandaskedifTommycouldhavedinnerattheirhouse.It’snobody’sbusinessbutmine!Well,it’severybody’sproblemnow.Children’sgamescangetawfullyloud.Aman’sworkisfromdawntosettingsun,butawoman’sworkisneverdone.(traditionalsaying)
Aretailstore’slocationisabsolutelycriticaltoitssuccess.Itwillbeveryexpensivetorepairallthestorm’sdamagequickly.Nearlyalloftheriver’swestbankhadbeenbadlyerodedbythestorm.
Possessivenounphrases
Itisimportanttorealizethatapossessivenouninsideanounphraseisnotjustthenounbyitself,butalsoallthewordsthatmodifythatpossessivenountakenasaunit.Forexample:
Myfather’ssisterwasborninIndia.
Thinkofthephrasemyfatherasbeingasinglepossessiveunitthatmodifiestheheadnounsister.Insidethatunit,mymodifiesfather.Myislockedinsideitsownnounphraseandcannotjumpoutsideitsownphrasetomodifysister.ThesisterwhowasborninIndiawasmyfather’ssister,notmysister.
•9•
Quantifiers
Quantifiersaredeterminersthatspecifythequantityoramountofthenounbeingmodified.Quantifiersarebyfarthelargestandmostheterogeneousgroupofdeterminers,andtheyarealsothesourceofmostofthemistakesmadebybothnativeandnonnativespeakers.
Thepresentationinthischapterisquitedifferentfromotherchaptersinthebook.Sincethereisnoacceptedclassificationofquantifiersasthereiswithdeterminers,thereisalsonostandard,organizedwaytotalkaboutquantifiers.Accordingly,wewillfocusjustonthefourhigh-frequencygroupsofquantifiersthataccountforthelargemajorityofquantifiererrors.Sincetheerrorspresentedbyeachofthesegroupsaretotallyunrelatedtothekindsoferrorsintheothergroups,wewilldealwitheachgroupindependently.Thefourmajorquantifiererrorsare(inalphabeticalorder):
1.afew/few;alittle/little
2.alotof
3.all/all(of)the
4.many/much
Afew/few;alittle/little
Fewandlittleareusedtoexpresssmallquantities.Fewisusedonlywithpluralcountnouns.Littleisusedonlywithnoncountnouns.Usingfewandlittleisgreatlycomplicatedbythefactthatfewandlittleeachoccurintwovariantformswithtwodifferentmeanings:fewandafew,littleandalittle.Wewilldiscussafew/fewfirstandthenturntoalittle/little.
Afewandfew
Afewandfewarequitedifferentinmeaning.Comparethefollowingsentences:
Afewisafixednumberexpressionlikeacouple.Afewmeansasmallbutindefinitequantity.Forsomepeopleafewrangesinmeaningfromtwotosixorseven.Forotherpeopleafewhastobeatminimumthree.(Forthesepeople,themeaningofafewcannotoverlapthemeaningofa
couple—namelytwo.Inotherwords,forthesepeoplecoupleistwoandfewisthreeormore.)Inourexamplesentence,thepersonbeingaskedtogetafewloavesofbreadisbeingaskedtogetsomewherebetweentwoandsixorsevenloavesofbread.Thespeakerisleavingthedecisionoftheexactnumbertothediscretionofthepersonbeingspokento.Fewhasaquitedifferentmeaningfromafew.Accordingtothedictionary,few(asopposedto
afew)isusedtoemphasizehowsmallagroupofpeopleorthingsreallyis.Inthesentence,
Fewpeoplearoundherestillremembermygrandfather.
fewdoesnotmeanaquantitybetweentwoandsixorseven.Usingfewisawaytoemphasizeorremarkonthesmallnumberofpeoplewhorememberthespeaker’sgrandfather.
Letusnowturnbacktothefewinourquotation:
FewstormsinmoderntimeswereasdamagingasKatrina.
Clearly,herefewisusedasawaytoemphasizetheverysmallnumberofstormsthatwereasdamagingasKatrina.Equallyclearly,fewdoesnotmean“someunspecifiedbutneverthelessrealnumberbetweentwoandsixorseven.”
Anotherpieceofevidencethatafewandfewhavebasicallydifferentmeaningsisthatweusuallycannotsubstitutefewforafew.Hereisouroriginalexampleofafew:
Pickupafewloavesofbreadonyourwayhome,willyou?
Whenwereplaceafewwithfew,theresultisbothnonsensicalandungrammatical:
XPickupfewloavesofbreadonyourwayhome,willyou?
Thefollowingaresomemoresamplesentencesofbothtypes:
afewTherearestillafewparkingplacesonthetopdeck.Ihaveafewquestionsforyouifyouhavetime.Moveitafewinchestotheleft.I’llgetafewbananasforbreakfast.Thethermometerhasdroppedafewdegreesinjustthelasthour.Afewextrarehearsalsmadeallthedifferenceintheworld.
fewFewpeoplewereawareofhowclosewecametofinancialdisaster.TherewerefewpeopleIadmiredasmuchasyourAuntRuth.Fewhousesintownareasniceastheirsis.Fewwordsareasfrighteningas“There’saproblem.”Wehavehadfewcomplaintsaboutthenewcomputersystem.Therehavebeenfewdefectsinournewproducts.
Inalloftheseexamples,afewmeans“asmallnumberof,”whilefewisusedtoemphasizetherelativelysmallnumberofthenounbeingmodified.
Notsurprisingly,itiseasytofindsituationsinwhichafewandfewcanhavenearlyoppositemeanings:
Theuseofafewisanacknowledgmentthatwehaveindeedhadsomecomplaints.Infact,dependingonthecontext,oneinterpretationofafewwouldbeasaeuphemismfor“we’vehadalotofcomplaints.”Theuseoffew,ofcourse,isjusttheopposite.Itemphasizestheremarkablysmallnumberofcomplaintstherehavebeen,thatis,virtuallynone.Afewandfewalsodifferinthewaytheyformquestionsandnegativestatements.Comparethe
followingstatementandquestions:
Bothquestionsaregrammaticalbutsemanticallydifferent.Theversionthatretainsafewrequiresaparticularcontexttomakesense.Itsoundsasifthepersonaskingthequestionknewinadvancethatvisitorstypicallydonotaskmanyquestions.Thequestionisreallyaskingforconformationofexpectations;itisnotanactualrequestforinformation.However,theversionwithanyisagenuineopen-endedquestionthatthequestionerdoesnotalreadyknowtheanswerto.Herearetwomoreexamples:
Theversionwithafewhasanexpectationofapositiveanswer.Theversionwithanyisneutral—thequestiondoesnotimplyanexpectationofeitherapositiveoranegativeanswer.
Theversionwithafewisanodd-soundingquestion.Sincewedon’tnormallyexpecttheretobeanycarsatallparkedinadriveway,askingifthereareafewcarsparkedthereseemsalmostnonsensicalunlessthesentencewereintendedtobeironic:thedrivewayisactuallyfilledsolidwithparkedcarsandthequestionerismakingajokeaboutit.Thesecondversionwithanyistheonlyalternativewhenthecontextofthequestionbeingaskedassumeseitherayesornoanswer.Comparethefollowingstatementandquestions:
Theversionwithfewisdistinctlystrangesounding.Itisgrammaticalonlyifweinterpretitasarhetoricalquestion—aquestionthatthepersonalreadyknowstheanswertoandisaskingonlyforconfirmation.Thesecondversionwithanyisthestandardwaystatementswithfewareturnedintoquestions.Inbothofthefollowingexamples,thequestionformedwithfewseemsstrangeexceptasarhetoricalquestionandthequestionformedwithanyseemsnormal:
Comparethetwodifferentwaysofformingnegativestatementsthatcontainafew:
Thenegativestatementwithafewisungrammaticalunlesswegiveanunusuallyheavycontrastivestressonnotafewandinterpretthesentenceasanironicalcommentonhowmanystoresareactuallyopenallnight.Thenormalnegativeformofafewiswithany.Forexample:
Comparethefollowingexamplesofthenegativeformsofafew:
Thenegativestatementisactuallygrammaticalbutmakeslittlesenseunlessthenotisheavilystressed:
Fewlocalpapersdonotcoverworldeventsextensively.
Thenegativestatementmakestheassertionthattherereallyareonlyafewlocalpapersthatdonotcoverworldeventsextensively.Negativestatementswithfewsoundmuchmorenormalifweusetheminanexistentialsentencebeginningwiththereandputcontrastivestressonthenegativeword:
Fewhascomparativeandsuperlativeforms.Wewilldiscusstheseinconjunctionwiththecomparativeandsuperlativeformsoflittle.
Alittleandlittle
Alittleandlittlearedifferentinmeaning.Alittlemeans“some.”Littlemeans“noneornexttonone.”(Thedifferencesbetweenalittleandlittlearesimilartothedifferencesbetweenfewandafew,butthankfullyaremuchlesscomplicated.)Comparethefollowingsentences:
Alittlemeansthatyourprojectcanprobablygoahead,butwatchyourexpenses.Little,however,meansthatyourprojecthashardlyanychanceofbeingapproved.
Herearesomemoreexamplesalongthesamelines:alittletypicallymeans“some,butnotalot”;littleisusuallyaeuphemismfor“virtuallynoneatall.”
Alittleandlittlealsodifferinthewaytheyformquestionsandnegativestatements.Comparethefollowingstatementandquestions:
Thequestionwithalittleisperfectlygrammatical,butaswesawwithafew,alittlealsohasasenseofnotbeingagenuinequestion—weexpecttheanswertobeyes.Infact,manyofuswouldactuallychangethequestionwithalittleintoaconfirmationquestion,aquestionthatasksforconfirmation,notactualinformation.Theconfirmationquestionwouldlooklikethis:
Theimplicationisthattheydoknowverywelltheyhaveatonofworktodo.Ifwewantedtoturnthestatementwithalittleintoagenuinequestion,wewouldhavetousetheversionwithanyinstead.
Thefollowingtwomoreexamplesshowexactlythesamekindofdifferencebetweenalittleandany:
Withalittle,thereisdefinitelyanexpectationthattheyprobablydoneedsomeassistance.Theuseofanyismuchmoreneutral.
Theuseofalittlemakesthekids’havingdessertthenormalexpectation.Anyisagainmuchmoreneutral—thequestionergenuinelydoesnotknowthefamily’snormaleatingpractices.
Muchaswesawwhenformingquestionswithfew,formingquestionswithlittleisawkwardtothepointofbeingungrammatical:
Thefirstversionwithlittlecanmakesenseonlyasanoddkindofrhetoricalquestion.Eventhen,itishardimaginingacontextinwhichanybodywouldactuallysayit.Thesecondversionwhereanyreplaceslittleismuchmorenormal.Herearetwomoreexampleswiththesamedifferencebetweenquestionsformedwithlittleandquestionsformswithany:
Thequestionwithlittleisagainonlyinterpretableasastrangeandmarginallygrammaticalrhetoricalquestion.Anyisperfectlynormal.
Theuseofthereturnsthequestionswithlittleintoagrammaticalrhetoricalquestion:thequestionerisaskingonlytoconfirmthatthereisindeednointerestintheriskyventure.Itisnotagenuineinformationquestionthewaythatthequestionwithanyis.
Let’sreviewthecomparativeandsuperlativeformsoffewandlittle.
Thecomparativeformsfewerandlessarethesourceofasurprisingamountoferror.Theruleseemssimple:usefewerwithcountnounsandlesswithnoncountnouns.Intheearlierexamplesfewerisusedwiththecountnounresponsesandlessisusedwiththenon-countnounsunshine.However,nonnativeandnativespeakersalikeunintentionallyreversetherulewithsurprisingfrequencyandusefewerwithnoncountnounsandlesswithcountnouns.Thefollowingexamplesoftheseerrorshavethenounsinbold:
fewerusedincorrectlywithnoncountnounsXWe’vehadfewersunshinethisweekthannormal.XWhenbothparentsareworking,theycan’thelpbutshowfewerpatiencewiththekids.
XIdon’tknowaboutyou,butIhavealotfewermoneythanIusedto.XWeeatfewerfruitwhenweeatoutatfast-foodplacesallthetime.
lessusedincorrectlywithcountnounsXWehavehadlessdaysofsunshinethanwehadlastweek.XEverybodymadelessmistakesontheirretakeofthetest.XSurprisingly,therearelessdivorcesinarrangedmarriages.XDrivershavelessaccidentsonintersectionswithfour-waystops.
Lookbackatbothgroupsoferrors.Whichgroupoferrors,fewerwithnoncountnounsorlesswithcountnouns,wouldyouhavebeenmorelikelytohaveoverlooked?Theerrorsgobothdirections,usingfewerwithnoncountnounsandusinglesswithcountnouns.However,mistakesusinglesswithcountnounsaremuchmorecommonthanmistakesusingfewerwithnoncountnouns.
Alotof
Normally,nounsinsideaprepositionalphrasedonotaffectsubject-verbagreement.For
example,inthefollowingsentence:
Thedecisionsofthecommitteearefinal.(prepositionalphaseunderlined)
theverbareispluralinagreementwiththepluralnoundecisions,thesubjectofthesentence.Committee,asingularnoun,playsnoroleindeterminingsubject-verbagreementbecauseitislockedupinsidetheprepositionalphraseofthecommitteeandthuscannotaffectsubject-verbagreementoutsidetheprepositionalphrase.
Thedetermineralotofishighlyunusualbecausethenounthatfollowstheprepositionofreachesoutsidetheboundariesofitsprepositionalphraseandpreemptstheroleofthesubjectsothatthefollowingverbagreeswithwhatisactuallytheobjectofaprepositionalphaseinsidetheprepositionalphrase.Inthefollowingsentencesthesubjectisunderlinedandtheverbisinbold:
Alotofthecommitteeisappointedbytheboard.Alotofthecommitteesareappointedbytheboard.
Asyoucansee,theverbsisandareagreewithcommitteeandcommitteesrespectively,nounsthataretheobjectsoftheprepositionof.Thefollowingthreeexampleshavethesamestructurewiththeobjectsoftheprepositionunderlinedandtheverbsinbold:
Alotoftheteamhasleftthefield.Alotoftheteamshaveleftthefield.Alotoftheproblemwascausedbypoorplanning.Alotoftheproblemswerecausedbypoorplanning.Alotofthelegaldisputewassettledoutofcourt.Alotofthelegaldisputesweresettledoutofcourt.
All/all(of)the
Allisusedwithpluralcountnounsandnoncountnouns:
Thereisoneidiomaticuseofallwithcontrastivestressthatpermitsalltomodifysingularcountnouns:
IhavetoreadallofthebookbyMonday!(Bookisasingularcountnoun.)Ihaven’tfinishedallmyprogramyet!(Programisasingularcountnoun.)Johntookalltheshelfagainforhisjunk!(Shelfisasingularcountnoun.)
Youdidn’tfinishallthejob!(Jobisasingularcountnoun.)
Thesesentenceswithallareusuallysaidinaloudtoneofoutragedinjustice.Allcanbecombinedwithdefinitedeterminers:
Allthosebooksgobacktothelibrary.(demonstrativedeterminer)Allmychildrenareontheirownnow.(possessivedeterminer)
Whenalldirectlymodifiesanoun,thatnounusuallyhasanunrestrictedgeneralmeaning.ThomasJefferson’sfamousstatementintheDeclarationofIndependence,
Weholdthesetruthstobeevident,thatallmenarecreatedequal…
hasanunrestricteduniversalapplicationforallpeople.(HereJeffersonusesmeninthebroadsenseof“allmankind,”notnarrowlyastheoppositeofwomen.)All(of)the(asopposedtoall)usuallyimpliesthatthereissomerestrictionorlimitation
(actualorimplied)onthegroupbeingdescribed.Comparethefollowingsentences:
Usingall(of)thewithanunrestrictedgeneralizednounwouldbeodd:
XAll(of)thestudentsmusthaveapass.
Thissentencewouldonlybecompletelyappropriateifthesentenceweresaidwithextrastressonallinresponsetoachallengeabouttheneedforallstudentstohavepasses.
Yes,all(of)thestudentsmusthaveapass!
Generallytheuseofallandalloftheareequallygrammatical(albeitwiththesemanticdifferencesdescribedearlier).However,thereisoneimportantexception:innegativetimeexpressionsallofthecannotbeused.
Abstractnoncountnounsareoftenusedwithwholeratherthanall(of)the.ProbablythemostfamoususeofwholewithabstractnoncountnounsisintheoathwitnessesswearinAmericancourtrooms.Theoathsaysinpartthatthewitness,
willtellthetruth,thewholetruth,andnothingbutthetruth.
Promisingtotell“allofthetruth”insteadof“thewholetruth”justdoesn’tseemadequate.Thefollowingexamplescomparetheuseofallandwholewithabstractnoncountnouns:
XGlobalwarmingisthreateningalloftheenvironment.Globalwarmingisthreateningthewholeenvironment.XAlloftheissueisgettingoutofhand.Thewholeissueisgettingoutofhand.XAlloftheexperiencewasquitefrightening.Thewholeexperiencewasquitefrightening.
Asyoucansee,thepreferenceforwholewithabstractnoncountnounsisnotjustamerestylisticpreference.Oftenitisagrammaticalrequirement.
Many/much
Manyandmuchareusedtoexpresslargequantities.Manyisusedonlywithpluralcountnouns.Muchisusedonlywithnoncountnouns.Theyareverymuchthecounterpartsofeachother—manywithcountnouns,muchwithnoncountnouns.Thefollowingaresomeexamplesofmany:
Manycarsandtrucksarenowmanufacturedindevelopingcountries.Ineedtohurry;I’vegotmanythingstodobeforeIcangohome.
Shehasmanyrefereedpublicationsinherrésumé.Alargelawfirmwillhavemanypartners.Thathouseneedsmanyimprovementsiftheyaregoingtotrytosellit.
Thereisaslightdifferenceinemphasisbetweenmanyandmanyof.Comparethefollowingsentences:
Manytilesinthebathroomaregettingdiscoloredfromwaterstains.Manyofthetilesinthebathroomaregettingdiscoloredfromwaterstains.
Manytilesstatesthatsomenumberofthetilesinthebathroom(morethanafew;lessthanmost)havebecomediscolored.Manyofthetilesimpliesthatasignificantnumberofthetileshavebecomediscoloredandthatsomethingmayhavetobedoneaboutit.Muchisusedonlywithnoncountnouns:
TherehasbeenmuchdebateaboutthevalueoftheInternet.Theclasshasn’tshownmuchimprovement.Youngkidshavetoomuchhomeworkthesedays.Thereisnotmuchairhereatthetopofthemountains.Howmuchcoffeeshouldwemake?Muchworkremainstobedone.
Muchisoftenusedinquestionsandnegativestatements—moresothanitscounterpartmany.Thedifferenceinusageprobablyreflectshowharditistousenoncountnounsinstatements.Thestatement,
Muchluggageisleft.
isgrammaticalbutstilted.However,thequestionandnegativeformsofthesamesentenceseemperfectlynormal:
Ismuchluggageleft?Notmuchluggageisleft.
Forasimilarreasonweprobablyusemuchofthemorefrequentlythanmanyofthe.Comparethefollowingsentences:
Wehavealreadydonemuchwork.
Wehavealreadydonemuchofthework.
Therereallyislittleifanydifferenceinmeaningbetweenthetwosentences,buttheonewithmuchofthesoundsnormalandthesentencewithjustmuchsoundsquiteodd.
Anotherwayweavoidtheawkwardnessofmuchinstatementsistosubstituteaquantityphrasewithofinsteadofmuch.Soratherthansaying,
Therehasbeenmuchdebateabouttheproject.
wemightusethefollowingquantityphrases:
Therehasbeenalotofdebateabouttheproject.Therehasbeenplentyofdebateabouttheproject.Therehasbeenlotsofdebateabouttheproject.Therehasbeenagreatdealofdebateabouttheproject.
Itisquitecommontoalternatebetweenmuchinnegativestatementsandquestionswithusingquantityphrasesinaffirmativestatements:
Muchandmanyareamongthefewdeterminersthathavecomparativeandsuperlativeforms:
Reviewofquantifiers
Thissectioncontainsanumberofshortexercises,oneforeachofthemaintopicscoveredinthischapterofthebook.Theexercisesservebothasareviewandasawayforyoutotestyourownunderstandingofthevarioustopicspresentedinthissection.
EXERCISE
9•1
UsingfewandafewUnderlinethecorrectanswerandcrossouttheincorrectanswer.Anexampleisgiven.
(Few/Afew)mergersgoassmoothlyastheparticipantshadhoped.
1.Ihave(few/afew)recommendationsforyou.2.Doyouneed(few/afew)minutestogetorganized?3.(Few/Afew)criminalcasesactuallygototrial.4.(Few/afew)churchestodayarebuiltwithtraditionalpipeorgans.5.Thereareonly(few/afew)placesintownwhereyoucangetdieselfuel.
EXERCISE
9•2
QuestionswithfewandafewTurnthefollowingstatementswithfewandafewintocorrespondingquestionforms.Assumethatallquestionsaregenuinerequestsforinformation(asopposedtorequestsforconfirmation).Anexampleisgiven.
FewhousesinCaliforniahavebasements.
DoanyhousesinCaliforniahavebasements?
1.Fewstateschargesalestaxesonbasicfooditems.
2.Thekidsgotafewmosquitobitesinthepark.
3.Fewchildrencouldsitstillthroughsuchalongperformance.
4.Feweyewitnessstatementsarecompletelyaccurate.
5.Thereareafewseatsavailablefortonight’sperformance.
EXERCISE
9•3
ThemeaningoflittleandalittleEachofthefollowingsentencesisfollowedbytheintendedmeaningoflittleoralittleinthatsentence.Selectthequantifierthatbestexpressestheintendedmeaning.Showyourchoicebyunderliningeitherlittleoralittleasappropriateandcrossingouttheinappropriatealternative.Anexampleisgiven.
Therewas(little/alittle)resistancetotheproposal.(some,butnotalot)
Therewas(little/alittle)resistancetotheproposal.
1.Thestudentsshowed(little/alittle)enthusiasmfortheproject.(hardlyanyatall)
2.Thefloodcaused(little/alittle)damagetoourproperty.(some,butnotalot)
3.(Little/Alittle)progresswasreportedinthenegotiations.(hardlyanyatall)
4.(Little/Alittle)smokewasleakingoutfromthefireplace.(some,butnotalot)
5.(Little/Alittle)thoughthadgoneintothedesign.(hardlyanyatall)
EXERCISE
9•4
Subject-verbagreementwithalotofDeterminewhetherthesingularorpluralformoftheverbinparenthesescorrectlyagreeswiththesubject.Underlinethecorrectformandcrossouttheincorrectform.Anexampleisgiven.
Alotofaccidents(is/are)causedbydiverinattention.
Alotofaccidents(is/are)causedbydiverinattention.
1.Alotofwindows(was/were)damagedinthestorm.
2.Alotofourconcern(was/were)totallyunjustified.
3.Alotoftheluggageonourflight(was/were)delayed.
4.Fortunately,alotoftheinjuriesintheaccident(was/were)relativelyminor.
5.Alotofadviceyouget(is/are)well-intended,butnotallthathelpful.
EXERCISE
9•5
ChoosingbetweenallandalloftheIfthephraseinitalicsiscorrect,writeOK.Ifitisnot,indicatethatthesentenceisungrammaticalandcrossouttheincorrectphrase.Thensupplythecorrectform.Anexampleisgiven.
Ididn’thaveaminutetomyselfalloftheday.
XIdidn’thaveaminutetomyselfalloftheday.
Ididn’thaveaminutetomyselfallday.
1.Wedidn’thaveanyheatalloftheweekend.
2.Alloftheplayerswerereadyforabreak.
3.ItseemslikeIhavespentallofthedaywaitingonholdforcustomerservice.
4.Didyoufinishalloftheexercisesbeforeclass?
5.Wehavetocallaplumber.Thefaucetinthekitchenleakedallofthenight.
EXERCISE
9•6
UsingmuchandmanyUnderlinethecorrectform,andcrossouttheincorrectform.Anexampleisgiven.
Weneedtoexplore(much/many)optionsbeforewemakeafinaldecision.
Weneedtoexplore(much/many)optionsbeforewemakeafinaldecision.
1.(Much/Many)merchantsarereluctanttoacceptcreditcardsforsmallpurchases.
2.Therewaswaytoo(much/many)discussionandnotnearlyenoughaction.
3.Wedidn’tget(much/many)supportfromthehomeoffice.
4.(Much/Many)injuriesrequiredhospitalization.
5.Wasthere(much/many)participationbythenewerstudents?
Answerkey
I ARTICLES
1Anintroductiontoarticles
1•11. (zero)Familynamescomefromalloverthe(def.)world.2.An(sing.indef.)interestpaymentwillbedueonthe(def.)firstofthe(def.)month.3.Whattheydidreallytooksome(indef.some)courage.4. (zero)Playershavetoenterthe(def.)stadiumthougha(sing.indef.)specialgate.5.Some(indef.some)costscannotbepassedonto (zero)customersandmustbeabsorbedbythe(def.)company.
6. (zero)Experienceisa(sing.indef.)sternandunforgivingteacher.7.Theyinherited (zero)propertyonthe(def.)coastfroma(sing.indef.)distantrelative.8.The(def.)policewerenotabletofindany(indef.some)solidevidenceconnectingthe(def.)initialsuspectstothe(def.)crime.
9.Technically, (zero)glassisnota(sing.indef.)solid,becauseitdoesnothavea(sing.indef.)rigidstructure.
10.Some(indef.some)fishisveryhighin (zero)omega-efattyacid.
1•21.Imadea(sing.indef.)bigmistake(sing.count)rightatthe(def.)beginning.(sing.count)2.Wearereallytryingtocutbackon (zero)salt.(noncount)3.Some(indef.some)versions(pl.count)ofthe(def.)story(sing.count)havea(sing.indef.)totallydifferentoutcome.(sing.count)
4. (zero)Bigprojects(pl.count)alwaystendtorunoutof (zero)time.(noncount)5.The(def.)team(sing.count)hasshownsome(indef.some)signs(pl.count)of (zero)improvement(noncount)lately.
6.Wegota(sing.indef.)loan(sing.count)tomakesome(indef.some)repairs.(pl.count)7.Hedealswiththe(def.)integration(noncount)ofdifferentcomputer (zero)systems.(pl.count)
8.The(def.)failures(pl.count)cameasa(sing.indef.)completesurprise.(sing.count)9. (zero)People(pl.count)aretoobusythesedays.
10.The(def.)university(sing.count)offersa(sing.indef.)number(sing.count)of (zero)scholarships.(pl.count)
1•31.noncountmass
2.count3.noncountmass4.count5.count6.noncountmass7.count8.noncountmass9.count10.count
Aprobableanswer:Anyobjectthatyoucaneasilypickupinyourfingersisprobablyacountnoun.Anyobjectthatyoucannoteasilypickupinyourfingersisprobablyamassnoun.
1•41.ungrammaticalbecausehoneyisanoncountnoun—thenameofaliquid2.ungrammaticalbecausegasesisanoncountnoun—thenameofagas3.ungrammaticalbecauseseawaterisanoncountnoun—thenameofaliquid4.grammaticalbecausestreamsisapluralcountnoun5.ungrammaticalbecausehazeisanoncountnoun—thenameofagas6.grammaticalbecausesomelemonadesisacontractedformofaprepositionalphrasecontainingof:somebottles/glassesoflemonade
7.grammaticalbecauseeggsisapluralcountnoun8.ungrammaticalbecauselemonadeisanoncountnoun—thenameofaliquid9.ungrammaticalbecauseexhaustsisanoncountnoun—thenameofagas10.ungrammaticalbecausebatterisanoncountnoun—thenameofaliquid
1•51.quarters,dimes,dollars,pennies,Xmonies2.Xfruits,apples,bananas,peaches,oranges3.wrappers,scraps,bananapeels,Xtrashes,cartons4.cars,buses,Xtraffics,trucks,motorcycles5.Xsilverwares,knives,forks,spoons6.staplers,computers,copiers,printers,Xequipments7.mountains,Xsceneries,lakes,waterfalls,valleys8.shoes,boots,sandals,heels,Xfootwears9.apartments,flats,houses,Xhousings,rooms10.facts,opinions,Xinformations,notes,memos,lists
1•61.(b)activity2.(c)naturalphenomena3.(b)activity4.(c)naturalphenomena5.(b)activity6.(a)derivednounendingin-ness7.(b)activity8.(c)naturalphenomena9.(b)activity
10.(a)derivednounendingin-ness
2Thedefinitearticlethe
2•1
2•2
2•3
2•41.TheAirForceAcademyislocatedin ColoradoSprings.2.AsnowstormintheCascadeshasclosed HighwayI-90.3.TheWashingtonMonumentisthetalleststructurein Washington,DC.4.TheDr.BrownwhomIwastalkingaboutisourdentist.5.Thecompanyisreplacingthetreasurerin July.6.TheFaroeIslandsareoffthecoastof Norway.7. Easterisunusuallyearlythisyear.8.TheSacramentoisthelongestriverin California.9.TheEnglishnovelist G.K.Chestertonwrotemanymysterystoriesfeaturing FatherBrown.
10.TheChristmasIwastalkingaboutmusthavebeenwhenwewerestilllivingonEllsworthStreet.(Note:weusethewithChristmasbecauseChristmasisfollowedbyapost-nounmodifier.NormallythewouldnotbeusedwithChristmas.)
2•51.(b)definedbymodifiers2.(c)normalexpectations(Weexpecthousestohavekitchens.)3.(a)previousmention4.(b)definedbymodifiers5.(d)uniqueness6.(c)normalexpectations(Weexpectofficebuildingstohaveelevatorsandtopfloors.)7.(b)definedbymodifiers8.(a)previousmention9.(c)normalexpectations(Weexpectbookstohavetablesofcontents.)
10.(b)definedbymodifiers
3Thesingularindefinitearticlea/an
3•11.an,a2.an3.an,an4.an5.An,a6.a7.An,an8.an9.an
10.an,a
3•21.(b)introducenonspecificnewtopic2.(c)characterizeordefine3.(a)introducespecificnewtopic4.(d)makegeneralizations5.(a)introducespecificnewtopic6.(b)introducenonspecificnewtopicor(d)makegeneralizations7.(a)introducespecificnewtopic8.(d)makegeneralizations9.(c)characterizeordefine
10.(b)introducenonspecificnewtopic
4Theindefinitearticlesome
4•11.any2.some3.any4.some5.any6.any7.any8.some9.any
10.any
4•21.OK2.any3.any4.OK5.any6.any7.OK8.any9.any
10.any
4•31.(b)some/anyadverbialbeforeclauserule2.(b)some/anyadverbialbeforeclauserule3.(c)some/anytoopredicateadjectiverule4.(c)some/anytoopredicateadjectiverule5.(a)some/anyadverbialifclauserule6.(a)some/anyadverbialifclauserule7.(a)some/anyadverbialifclauserule8.(c)some/anytoopredicateadjectiverule9.(c)some/anytoopredicateadjectiverule
10.(b)some/anyadverbialbeforeclauserule
5Thezeroarticle
5•11.
2.3.the4.5.6.7.The,the8. ,an9.the,the
10. ,a,11.12.13. ,14.the, ,15. ,a
5•2
Travelby airhasbecomeeveryone’sfavoritetopictocomplainabout.Weallhaveheard storiesabout passengersbeingstuckforhourson runwaysand storiesaboutendlesslinesat ticketcounters.Thesearealltrue.Theproblemisthatnoneofusis
willingtopaywhatitwouldcosttofixtheproblems.Noneofuswantstopayapennymorethanwehaveto.When airlinestrytoraise pricestoimprovetheirservices,weallgototheairlinesthathavenotraisedtheirprices.When airportstrytogetapprovaltoraisetaxestopayfor airportimprovements,wevotethebondissuesdown.
II DETERMINERS
7Anintroductiontodeterminers
7•11.trueadjective2.determiner3.determiner4.trueadjective5.determiner6.trueadjective7.determiner,trueadjective8.determiner
9.trueadjective10.trueadjective,determiner
7•21.unexpected—trueadjective:comparative:moreunexpected;superlative:mostunexpected2.double—determiner:comparative:Xmoredouble;superlative:Xmostdouble3.last—determiner:comparative:Xlast-er;superlative:Xlast-est4.rapid—trueadjective:comparative:morerapid;superlative:mostrapid5.neither—determiner:comparative:Xmoreneither;superlative:Xmostneither6.enthusiastic—trueadjective:comparative:moreenthusiastic;superlative:mostenthusiastic
7.That—determiner:comparative:Xthat-er;superlative:that-est8.dirty—trueadjective:comparative:dirtier;superlative:dirtiest9.amazing—trueadjective:comparative:moreamazing;superlative:mostamazing
10.enough—determiner:comparative:Xmoreenough;superlative:Xmostenough
7•31.Itishardwhenbothareoutofschoolatthesametime.2.Takewhicheveryouwant.3.Eachseemsworsethanthepreviousone.4.Theaudiencewillhaveafewtoaskthespeaker.5.Theywillprobablyacceptwhateveryougivethem.6.Wecouldn’tdecidewhichwewantedtosee.7.Unfortunately,wehadlittletospare.8.Thefirstalwaysseemstosticktothepan.9.Mostgotopublicschools.
10.Thisisnevergoingtowork.
7•41.Afterafewfalsestarts,Ifinallygottherightanswer.2.Thedetectivenoticednumerousparallelscarsonthevictim’sface.3.Thosewoolenblanketsneedtobecleaned.4.Thepatientwastakingmanyshallowbreaths.5.Mosturbanlandscapesneedmoregreenspace.6.Fewbeginningjobspayaverygoodwage.7.Suchapooroutcomeshouldhavebeenanticipated.8.Mybestguessturnedouttobefartoolow.9.Welookedatseveralcomparablehousesovertheweekend.
10.Theirprogramhasproduceddozensoflocalphysicians.
8Definitedeterminers
8•1
9Quantifiers
9•11.Ihave(few/afew)recommendationsforyou.2.Doyouneed(few/afew)minutestogetorganized?3.(Few/Afew)criminalcasesactuallygototrial.4.(Few/afew)churchestodayarebuiltwithtraditionalpipeorgans.5.Thereareonly(few/afew)placesintownwhereyoucangetdieselfuel.
9•21.Doanystateschargesalestaxesonbasicfooditems?2.Didthekidsgetanymosquitobitesinthepark?3.Couldanychildrensitstillthroughsuchalongperformance?4.Areanyeyewitnessstatementscompletelyaccurate?5.Areanyseatsavailablefortonight’sperformance?
9•31.Thestudentsshowed(little/alittle)enthusiasmfortheproject.(hardlyanyatall)2.Thefloodcaused(little/alittle)damagetoourproperty.(some,butnotalot)3.(Little/Alittle)progresswasreportedinthenegotiations.(hardlyanyatall)4.(Little/Alittle)smokewasleakingoutfromthefireplace.(some,butnotalot)5.(Little/Alittle)thoughthadgoneintothedesign.(hardlyanyatall)
9•41.Alotofwindows(was/were)damagedinthestorm.
2.Alotofourconcern(was/were)totallyunjustified.3.Alotoftheluggageonourflight(was/were)delayed.4.Fortunately,alotoftheinjuriesintheaccident(was/were)relativelyminor.5.Alotofadviceyouget(is/are)well-intended,butnotallthathelpful.
9•51.XWedidn’thaveanyheatalloftheweekend.Wedidn’thaveanyheatallweekend.2.OK3.ItseemslikeIhavespentallofthedaywaitingonholdforcustomerservice.ItseemslikeIhavespentalldaywaitingonholdforcustomerservice.
4.OK5.Thefaucetinthekitchenleakedallofthenight.Thefaucetinthekitchenleakedallnight.
9•61.(Much/Many)merchantsarereluctanttoacceptcreditcardsforsmallpurchases.2.Therewaswaytoo(much/many)discussionandnotnearlyenoughaction.3.Wedidn’tget(much/many)supportfromthehomeoffice.4.(Much/Many)injuriesrequiredhospitalization.5.Wasthere(much/many)participationbythenewerstudents?
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