A poverty of imagination

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

Hi,

  1. Is poverty of imagination “poorer” than a poverty of imagination? Say, 75% to 70% lack of imagination because the shorter distance between displays and poverty without the a?
  1. Is great affection ornamental/sentimental whereas a great affection descriptive?

Thank you!

Haihao

2

Doesn’t it depend just on grammar? I think there’s no need to consider their meaning as they should be always without articles. Because they are both uncountable(poverty, affection). Am I right?

3

I think the use of “a” in those expressions indicates that the characteristic is of a type unique to the individual.

When someone’s work displays “a poverty of imagination”, it generally means a certain type of poverty of imagination peculiar to that person or that work. You may even hear “a certain poverty of imagination”. It’s the same thing with “a great affection”.

4

Generally, they are uncountable. It’s some specialized understanding of those words so they now became countable. I agree with you. The same thing happens with countable “money” in business.(Could you sum up those monies?)