Hi, how are you? Thanks in advance!
E.X What a cake!
My questions:
1.- Should I omit the indefinite
article to mean 'I was surprised by the
cake they gave me as a present?in this exclamation?
2.- Must I always omit the indefinite article
in exclamations like that?
Thanks a lot!
You needn’t omit it!Why?!
You need the indefinite article in this sentence, because ‘cake’ is a count noun. However, the article is omitted for uncountable nouns:
What (terrible) weather!
What (excruciating) pain!
What (wonderful) news!
Hello! Thanks for all your replies, but what about
a name that can be countable or uncountable?
For instance, ‘crime’.
Which one should I use?
What a crime!
What crime!
Thanks a lot!
In that case, the article should or should not be used depending on the context. Use it if you refer to a particular crime or criminal act. Don’t use it if crime or illegal activities in general are meant. Still, to me, the expression ‘what crime’ sounds a bit strange and I would probably express it differently.
Hi Jesus
1- He killed his own daughter? What a heinous crime!
2- You mean to say I have committed a crime…what crime?
1- What a suitable conversation!
2- What conversation are you referring to right now?
I hope this helps a bit!
Tom
Thanks to everyone!
But, Tom, Is it necessary to use an adjective in
your first sentence?. Can?t I just say:
‘What a crime!’
Do I always need to use an adjective with countanble nouns in
exclamations?
Thanks in advance!
Hi,
No, it is not necessary.
Tom
Why do we use “a” with the word shame ?like “what a shame !”.I read that we can with singular nouns,is the word “shame” a singular noun?as far as I know it’s uncountable noun,so how come “a” is used with such uncountable nouns ?[/b][/s]
‘Shame’ is not generally counted, but in some instances it is a countable noun. For example:
“I felt two shames: one for hurting my friend, and a greater one for lying about it.”
That said, the expression “a shame” is idiomatic and has its own separate meaning, which is often used in structures like “What a shame” or “It’s a shame that…”
Another similar example might be “coffee”. Coffee can be uncountable: a hot dark brown drink that has a slightly bitter taste (Longman Dictionary). But it can be countable and be used with an article too, and the meaning is different: a coffee = a cup of coffee.
I can imagine saying “What crime!”
If I just learn of an astonishing rash of crimes or am reacting to a distinct pattern of crime, I can say “What crime!” That doesn’t sound funny to me.
I’d think such uncountables as shame and the like become “countable” as they refer to particular events but not to the conceptions per se.
What a shame! = What a shameful event! but not = *What a shamefulness!
Thus, an uncountable takes a/an if an event/entity/etc is concerned: [+individual, -conceptional].
1-What about “rubbish”,do we say " what rubbish" because it can’t be uncountable noun ?Also,I think I’ve read that “shame” can’t have the “s” of the plural.
2-I think we use the article " a" if we have like this sentence : " what a silly mistake!",why we don’t put “a” in this one " what dreadful weather !"?
3-How to differenciate between " how and what" ?Example: we don’t say “what awful” but “how awful”,could you shed some light on that ,please ?
Many thanks
Wha about " mess",why do we say “what a mess” since “mess” can’t be countable ?
Please,can you show me where I can ask a question which isn’t asked before in the forum ?I just know how to reply.
“Shame” can be countable. Dictionary also definitions list as a noun a single instance of shame.
We never say “What a dreadful weather” because, unlike “shame,” weather cannot be reduced to a single instance. There cannot be a weather or two weathers.
“How” is for adjectives. How impolite!
“What” is for nouns. What a lie!
“Mess” can be countable.
I made a mess.
I made two messes. I spilled spaghetti sauce on my shirt, and then I spilled wine on the floor.
To post a new thread, you will have to go back to the main page of this forum, the grammar forum. Look to the left of the forum just above the “Listening Exercises” heading, which has a white background. There is an oval white button just above that heading. Click it.
In addition to ?weather, ??a furniture, ?a nature, etc. However, as far as I know, any noun may take a/an in some technological documents.
BTW, I even read “so warm a weather” somewhere.
Further, I’d think the term “countable” should be reconsidered. Sometimes it seems to me in little connection with countability. For example,
You would almost never use numbers in that context anyway. We all know problems are countable, but look at this:
What two problems! = Awkward
What two troubles! = Awkward
Someone might say: What a banana! or even What bananas!
What two bananas! = Awkward.
No matter what you use, that will be odd.
Mess, shame, etc. are legitimate countable nouns, according to their very dictionary definitions.
People will often say:
This is a mess.
We have two messes to clean up, one in the kitchen and one in the living room.
You’ve made a mess.
This is just another mess.
I just cleaned up one mess at work, and now I have to fix one at home.
I don’t see why people don’t think “mess” is countable. I can see “shame” because it’s rarer, but “mess” is often countable.
“Furniture” is not a countable noun. Neither is “weather.” I don’t know anything about technological (technical?) documents, but I know that with respect to English grammar, this is the rule regarding these words. In no other situation – if you can legitimately do it in those – can you refer to “a furniture.”
We refer to pieces of furniture.
“So warm a climate” makes sense.
“Such warm weather” makes sense.
“So warm a weather” is a just clumsy way of saying “a type of weather so warm” because “weather” itself, cannot be counted. It’s a condition or quality, not an instance, a single event, a unit or an object. No such thing as “two weathers.”
The idea of what is countable is that you can break it down into a single unit. This varies with some words because they can be single instances or examples of such a condition.
Illness (poor health) is common in the later stages of life. = the condition of being ill.
I had two illnesses in six months. = a bout of illness.
I cannot have one furniture or two furnitures.
*I bought two furnitures in six month. = Wrong
I bought furniture twice in six months.
I cannot have two happinesses.
I cannot have two angers.
I cannot have two clothes.
An airport, two airports.
A problem, two problems.
A thought, two thoughts.
A snowball, two snowballs.
You may sometimes see something such as this:
He had an intense anger I had never witnessed before.
What it really means is a type of anger, and it would be more correct to state that outright. You cannot have two angers, but you can have two types of it.
Even though the last answer might not sound terribly offensive, if we start adding numerals to modify “anger,” it sounds absurd.
They had three intense angers I had never witnessed before.
They had three wisdoms.
Their intelligences astounded me, and there were six of them.
In general, I think “countable” works to describe these words, even if you may occasionally encounter some that don’t sound overly offensive with an indefinite article in front. They’re not really counting that noun. If you can replace “a” with “one,” you have an argument for countability.
By the way, you can have two beauties. “A beauty” usually means a “beautiful person,” but it can also refer to animals and probably even objects.
The magazine will have two beauties on the cover this month.
2 : a beautiful person or thing; especially : a beautiful woman
I have an interest in disease names.