The usage of article: “stone, a stone, the stone, stones speak(s) in silence”?
The usage or non-usage of article and number of noun is always a headache for non-native English speakers, particularly to Asians who don’t have the notion of article and number (singular / plural) in their language structure. I have read a half dozen of English grammar books specialized in the use of article in the past. Still usage of articles is in absolute limbo to me.
Recently I tried to translate the following poem of a famous Japanese poet, Horiguchi Daigaku titled ‘Stone speaks in silence’ into English:
石は黙ってものを言う
直に心にものを言う
雨に濡れて日に渇き
石は百年変わらない
流れる水に逆らって
石は千年動かない
as follows:
"Stone speaks in silence
It speaks straight to my heart
Wet in the rain, dry under the sun
Stone doesn’t change for thousands of years
Resisting the flow of water
Stone doesn’t move a bit for thousands of years."
Of course, I have ‘stone’ here as a collective noun in mind, but I was at a loss to decide whether it should be ‘stone,’ ‘a stone,’ ‘the stone,’ or ‘stones.’
Did I put it right or wrong? If it’s wrong, what should it be? Why?
What is a knack of deciding the use of article for collective noun?
articles
asked 8 mins ago
Yoichi Oishi♦Yoichi Oishi
34.7k110365746
add a comment |
The usage or non-usage of article and number of noun is always a headache for non-native English speakers, particularly to Asians who don’t have the notion of article and number (singular / plural) in their language structure. I have read a half dozen of English grammar books specialized in the use of article in the past. Still usage of articles is in absolute limbo to me.
Recently I tried to translate the following poem of a famous Japanese poet, Horiguchi Daigaku titled ‘Stone speaks in silence’ into English:
石は黙ってものを言う
直に心にものを言う
雨に濡れて日に渇き
石は百年変わらない
流れる水に逆らって
石は千年動かない
as follows:
"Stone speaks in silence
It speaks straight to my heart
Wet in the rain, dry under the sun
Stone doesn’t change for thousands of years
Resisting the flow of water
Stone doesn’t move a bit for thousands of years."
Of course, I have ‘stone’ here as a collective noun in mind, but I was at a loss to decide whether it should be ‘stone,’ ‘a stone,’ ‘the stone,’ or ‘stones.’
Did I put it right or wrong? If it’s wrong, what should it be? Why?
What is a knack of deciding the use of article for collective noun?
articles
asked 8 mins ago
Yoichi Oishi♦Yoichi Oishi
34.7k110365746
If you mean stone as in the material, similar to wood, paper, steel, granite.... Then you’ve got it right.
– Jim
3 mins ago
add a comment |
The usage or non-usage of article and number of noun is always a headache for non-native English speakers, particularly to Asians who don’t have the notion of article and number (singular / plural) in their language structure. I have read a half dozen of English grammar books specialized in the use of article in the past. Still usage of articles is in absolute limbo to me.
Recently I tried to translate the following poem of a famous Japanese poet, Horiguchi Daigaku titled ‘Stone speaks in silence’ into English:
石は黙ってものを言う
直に心にものを言う
雨に濡れて日に渇き
石は百年変わらない
流れる水に逆らって
石は千年動かない
as follows:
"Stone speaks in silence
It speaks straight to my heart
Wet in the rain, dry under the sun
Stone doesn’t change for thousands of years
Resisting the flow of water
Stone doesn’t move a bit for thousands of years."
Of course, I have ‘stone’ here as a collective noun in mind, but I was at a loss to decide whether it should be ‘stone,’ ‘a stone,’ ‘the stone,’ or ‘stones.’
Did I put it right or wrong? If it’s wrong, what should it be? Why?
What is a knack of deciding the use of article for collective noun?
articles
asked 8 mins ago
Yoichi Oishi♦Yoichi Oishi
34.7k110365746
The usage or non-usage of article and number of noun is always a headache for non-native English speakers, particularly to Asians who don’t have the notion of article and number (singular / plural) in their language structure. I have read a half dozen of English grammar books specialized in the use of article in the past. Still usage of articles is in absolute limbo to me.
Recently I tried to translate the following poem of a famous Japanese poet, Horiguchi Daigaku titled ‘Stone speaks in silence’ into English:
石は黙ってものを言う
直に心にものを言う
雨に濡れて日に渇き
石は百年変わらない
流れる水に逆らって
石は千年動かない
as follows:
"Stone speaks in silence
It speaks straight to my heart
Wet in the rain, dry under the sun
Stone doesn’t change for thousands of years
Resisting the flow of water
Stone doesn’t move a bit for thousands of years."
Of course, I have ‘stone’ here as a collective noun in mind, but I was at a loss to decide whether it should be ‘stone,’ ‘a stone,’ ‘the stone,’ or ‘stones.’
Did I put it right or wrong? If it’s wrong, what should it be? Why?
What is a knack of deciding the use of article for collective noun?
articles
articles
asked 8 mins ago
Yoichi Oishi♦Yoichi Oishi
34.7k110365746
asked 8 mins ago
Yoichi Oishi♦Yoichi Oishi
34.7k110365746
asked 8 mins ago
Yoichi Oishi♦Yoichi Oishi
34.7k110365746
asked 8 mins ago
Yoichi Oishi♦Yoichi Oishi
34.7k110365746
asked 8 mins ago
Yoichi Oishi♦Yoichi Oishi
34.7k110365746
34.7k110365746
If you mean stone as in the material, similar to wood, paper, steel, granite.... Then you’ve got it right.
– Jim
3 mins ago
add a comment |
If you mean stone as in the material, similar to wood, paper, steel, granite.... Then you’ve got it right.
– Jim
3 mins ago
If you mean stone as in the material, similar to wood, paper, steel, granite.... Then you’ve got it right.
– Jim
3 mins ago
If you mean stone as in the material, similar to wood, paper, steel, granite.... Then you’ve got it right.
– Jim
3 mins ago
add a comment |
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If you mean stone as in the material, similar to wood, paper, steel, granite.... Then you’ve got it right.
– Jim
3 mins ago