though I’m not very often on here I read your every single newsletter Allan, thank you very much for them, each is very interesting and teaching!!
Could you please explain me what is the difference between warning and warnings? I thought it’s an uncountable noun, isn’ t?
I also learned that noun “travel” is uncountable, however recently i’ve came across a sentence from “Eastern Approaches” by Fitzroy Maclean “It was a Persian phrase which was to impress itself forcibly on my memory in the course of my travels”. Now I’m confused why travels instead of travel?
could you please also help me to understand the meaning of words in the sentence from the same source
“The somewhat excessive interest which he showed in my affairs was however amply made up for by his helpful and amiable attitude”.
I understand that the person was too interested in sth (“excessive interest”) , but what does “in my affairs” (in my things?) and “made up for by” mean ?
" I have given you a warning and still you continue to do the opposite."
" How many warnings do you need before you understand my orders.? "
I travel to work each day by car.
He travels with me in my car.
thanks for your answer Kitosdad however it’s not exactly what I was asking about
First of all I asked about using "travel " in plural as a noun, not as a verb…
with warning and warnings you didn’t answer straight away is it plural or singular noun :?:
however thanks a lot for the last sentence :lol: !!
someone can’t use travels because travel is uncountable noun (according to english grammar by Kenna Bourke publish by oxford university press and other books I came across either).
Allan Torsten could you please how it is with warniing (s); travel(s) cause we’re getting only more and more confused and irritated wit them :shock: :evil:
I believe this is untrue. I’ve seen this word used in plural many times. All right, I guess this doesn’t prove that it’s an uncountable noun, but let’s see how this will look in my example: “In all my travel I haven’t seen anything like that.”
I think it looks/sounds somewhat clumsy. How am I expected to understand if a person wants to say that he/she performed not just one travel but many? Ok, he/she can use the verb “to travel”, but what about a noun? We can say “journeys”, “trips”, “tours”, but can’t say “travels” (as a noun)? If so, I think this is really strange.
You’re right, Iza, we’d better wait for a reply from Mr. Torsten or Mr. Alan.
So let’s talk about ‘warning/warnings’ ‘travel/travels’.
‘Warning’ can be both countable and uncountable. Look at these sentences:
1 In some conditions of service employees are given a verbal warning first if they don’t work properly. Then they receive further warnings if they continue to work inefficiently until they receive their final warning, which often leads to dismissal.
2 There is a warning from the meteorological office that there will be severe flooding tonight in the north of the country.
3 There is a government health warning on every packet of cigarettes. Health warnings like these are often ignored.
4 Notice on the road side: Warning. This road is very narrow.
You can see how the word can be used as a singular noun or in the plural in 1,2 and 3. In 4 the word is used in an abstract sense and therefore has no article.
‘Travel’ can be used in an abstract way (without an article) in a singular form as in: Travel can broaden the mind/make you aware of how other people live. It is not usually used to describe a particular journey. It can also be used in the plural to describe journeys but is usually used in that sense without an article. You will see it used in book titles describing journeys undertaken by explorers: 'Travels in the Amazon rain forest. There is a book written by the distinguished 20th century novelist, Graham Greene entitled: Travels with my aunt. It can also be used in a more general sense together with the possessive adjective in this sort of comment: In all my travels throughout the country I have never seen such a pretty village.
I hope these examples show how these words can be used.
