AlsobyMarkLesterPracticeMakesPerfect:EnglishVerbTensesUpClose

PracticeMakesPerfect:AdvancedEnglishGrammarforESLLearnersTheBigBookofEnglishVerbs

McGraw-Hill’sEssentialESLGrammarMcGraw-Hill’sEssentialEnglishIrregularVerbs

EnglishGrammarDrillsTheMcGraw-HillHandbookofEnglishGrammarandUsage(withLarryBeason)

Copyright©2013byMcGraw-HillEducation.Allrightsreserved.ExceptaspermittedundertheUnitedStatesCopyrightActof1976,nopartofthispublicationmaybereproducedordistributedinanyformorbyanymeans,orstoredinadatabaseorretrievalsystem,withoutthepriorwrittenpermissionofthepublisher.

ISBN:978-0-07-175355-5MHID:0-07-175355-9

ThematerialinthiseBookalsoappearsintheprintversionofthistitle:ISBN:978-0-07-175206-0,MHID:0-07-175206-4.

E-bookconversionbyCodemantraVersion2.0

Alltrademarksaretrademarksoftheirrespectiveowners.Ratherthanputatrademarksymbolaftereveryoccurrenceofatrademarkedname,weusenamesinaneditorialfashiononly,andtothebenefitofthetrademarkowner,withnointentionofinfringementofthetrademark.Wheresuchdesignationsappearinthisbook,theyhavebeenprintedwithinitialcaps.

McGraw-HillEducationeBooksareavailableatspecialquantitydiscountstouseaspremiumsandsalespromotionsorforuseincorporatetrainingprograms.TocontactarepresentativepleasevisittheContactUspageatwww.mhprofessional.com.

McGraw-HillEducation,theMcGraw-HillEducationlogo,PracticeMakesPerfect,andrelatedtradedressaretrademarksorregisteredtrademarksofMcGraw-HillEducationand/oritsaffiliatesintheUnitedStatesandothercountriesandmaynotbeusedwithoutwrittenpermission.Allothertrademarksarethepropertyoftheirrespectiveowners.McGraw-HillEducationisnotassociatedwithanyproductorvendormentionedinthisbook.

InteriordesignbyVillageTypographers,Inc.

TERMSOFUSE

ThisisacopyrightedworkandMcGraw-HillEducationanditslicensorsreserveallrightsinandtothework.Useofthisworkissubjecttotheseterms.ExceptaspermittedundertheCopyrightActof1976andtherighttostoreandretrieveonecopyofthework,youmaynotdecompile,disassemble,reverseengineer,reproduce,modify,createderivativeworksbasedupon,transmit,distribute,disseminate,sell,publishorsublicensetheworkoranypartofitwithoutMcGraw-HillEducation’spriorconsent.Youmayusetheworkforyourownnoncommercialandpersonaluse;anyotheruseoftheworkisstrictlyprohibited.Yourrighttousetheworkmaybeterminatedifyoufailtocomplywiththeseterms.

THEWORKISPROVIDED“ASIS.”McGRAW-HILLEDUCATIONANDITSLICENSORSMAKENOGUARANTEESORWARRANTIESASTOTHEACCURACY,ADEQUACYORCOMPLETENESSOFORRESULTSTOBEOBTAINEDFROMUSINGTHEWORK,INCLUDINGANYINFORMATIONTHATCANBEACCESSEDTHROUGHTHEWORKVIAHYPERLINKOROTHERWISE,ANDEXPRESSLYDISCLAIMANYWARRANTY,EXPRESSORIMPLIED,INCLUDINGBUTNOTLIMITEDTOIMPLIEDWARRANTIESOFMERCHANTABILITYORFITNESSFORAPARTICULARPURPOSE.McGraw-Hill

Educationanditslicensorsdonotwarrantorguaranteethatthefunctionscontainedintheworkwillmeetyourrequirementsorthatitsoperationwillbeuninterruptedorerrorfree.NeitherMcGraw-HillEducationnoritslicensorsshallbeliabletoyouoranyoneelseforanyinaccuracy,errororomission,regardlessofcause,intheworkorforanydamagesresultingtherefrom.McGraw-HillEducationhasnoresponsibilityforthecontentofanyinformationaccessedthroughthework.UndernocircumstancesshallMcGraw-HillEducationand/oritslicensorsbeliableforanyindirect,incidental,special,punitive,consequentialorsimilardamagesthatresultfromtheuseoforinabilitytousethework,evenifanyofthemhasbeenadvisedofthepossibilityofsuchdamages.Thislimitationofliabilityshallapplytoanyclaimorcausewhatsoeverwhethersuchclaimorcausearisesincontract,tortorotherwise.

ToobtainPDFsforexercisesfromtheprintedversionofthiseBook,pleaseclickhere.

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?

ThisdigitalbookincludesalloftheworkbookexercisesinadownloadablePDFformat.Toaccessthismaterial,visitMcGraw-HillProfessional’sMediaCenterat

http://mhprofessional.com/mediacenter/,thenenterthise-book’sISBNandyoure-mailaddress.

Youwillreceiveane-mailmessagewithadownloadlinkfortheadditionalcontent.

Thise-book’sISBNis:978-0-07-175355-5.

Back