can a/an modify unccountable noun?
My father was not a tall man but he was able to command a room. He had a presence about him, the solemnity of an oracle. His hands were thick and leathery—the hands of a man who’d been hard at work all his life—and they grasped the Bible firmly.
I searched with an answer that a/an X about is a fixed phrase, but I still don't understand as presence is unccountable, why a/an is used here?
meaning grammar
asked 2 days ago
wtdarkwtdark
234
New contributor
wtdark is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
|
show 1 more comment
My father was not a tall man but he was able to command a room. He had a presence about him, the solemnity of an oracle. His hands were thick and leathery—the hands of a man who’d been hard at work all his life—and they grasped the Bible firmly.
I searched with an answer that a/an X about is a fixed phrase, but I still don't understand as presence is unccountable, why a/an is used here?
meaning grammar
asked 2 days ago
wtdarkwtdark
234
New contributor
wtdark is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
1
Presense is countable. As indeed the article indicates. That's what its whole job is. The article is what makes it countable in the first place.
– RegDwigнt♦
2 days ago
no, check this in dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/presence, it is uncountable. --- C2 [ U ] approving a quality that makes people notice or admire you, even when you are not speaking:
– wtdark
2 days ago
The example you quote actually reads "He stood there in the corner of the room, a dark, brooding (= worrying) presence." Thus, despite the annotation reading U = uncountable, the quoted example shows the opposite! Other examples in that entry show various uses of presence as countable or uncountable.
– TrevorD
2 days ago
1
Yes, a/an can sometimes be used with an uncountable noun, as your example shows. Uncountable nouns referring to personal qualities are quite often like this - he had an efficiency about him that was much appreciated by the management ? they had efficiencies about them that were much appreciated..., she had a sexiness about her that would have sold records even if she hadn't had the voice of the century ? they had sexinesses about them that...
– Minty
2 days ago
1
NB you would say he had a lot of presence / a great deal of presence, not he had lots of presences. It's hard to articulate why these cases are different but I think it's to with the qualities concerned being being abstract and unquantifiable. We may partake of these qualities but can never own them, if that isn't too mystical. Talent is another example - she had a talent for painting vs ? they both had talents for painting - we would say they both had a talent for painting cf he had a height of 6'6, she had a height of 5'10; they had heights of 6'6 and 5'10 respectively.
– Minty
2 days ago
|
show 1 more comment
My father was not a tall man but he was able to command a room. He had a presence about him, the solemnity of an oracle. His hands were thick and leathery—the hands of a man who’d been hard at work all his life—and they grasped the Bible firmly.
I searched with an answer that a/an X about is a fixed phrase, but I still don't understand as presence is unccountable, why a/an is used here?
meaning grammar
asked 2 days ago
wtdarkwtdark
234
New contributor
wtdark is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
My father was not a tall man but he was able to command a room. He had a presence about him, the solemnity of an oracle. His hands were thick and leathery—the hands of a man who’d been hard at work all his life—and they grasped the Bible firmly.
I searched with an answer that a/an X about is a fixed phrase, but I still don't understand as presence is unccountable, why a/an is used here?
meaning grammar
meaning grammar
asked 2 days ago
wtdarkwtdark
234
New contributor
wtdark is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked 2 days ago
wtdarkwtdark
234
New contributor
wtdark is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked 2 days ago
wtdarkwtdark
234
New contributor
wtdark is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked 2 days ago
wtdarkwtdark
234
asked 2 days ago
wtdarkwtdark
234
234
New contributor
wtdark is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
New contributor
wtdark is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
wtdark is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
1
Presense is countable. As indeed the article indicates. That's what its whole job is. The article is what makes it countable in the first place.
– RegDwigнt♦
2 days ago
no, check this in dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/presence, it is uncountable. --- C2 [ U ] approving a quality that makes people notice or admire you, even when you are not speaking:
– wtdark
2 days ago
The example you quote actually reads "He stood there in the corner of the room, a dark, brooding (= worrying) presence." Thus, despite the annotation reading U = uncountable, the quoted example shows the opposite! Other examples in that entry show various uses of presence as countable or uncountable.
– TrevorD
2 days ago
1
Yes, a/an can sometimes be used with an uncountable noun, as your example shows. Uncountable nouns referring to personal qualities are quite often like this - he had an efficiency about him that was much appreciated by the management ? they had efficiencies about them that were much appreciated..., she had a sexiness about her that would have sold records even if she hadn't had the voice of the century ? they had sexinesses about them that...
– Minty
2 days ago
1
NB you would say he had a lot of presence / a great deal of presence, not he had lots of presences. It's hard to articulate why these cases are different but I think it's to with the qualities concerned being being abstract and unquantifiable. We may partake of these qualities but can never own them, if that isn't too mystical. Talent is another example - she had a talent for painting vs ? they both had talents for painting - we would say they both had a talent for painting cf he had a height of 6'6, she had a height of 5'10; they had heights of 6'6 and 5'10 respectively.
– Minty
2 days ago
|
show 1 more comment
1
Presense is countable. As indeed the article indicates. That's what its whole job is. The article is what makes it countable in the first place.
– RegDwigнt♦
2 days ago
no, check this in dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/presence, it is uncountable. --- C2 [ U ] approving a quality that makes people notice or admire you, even when you are not speaking:
– wtdark
2 days ago
The example you quote actually reads "He stood there in the corner of the room, a dark, brooding (= worrying) presence." Thus, despite the annotation reading U = uncountable, the quoted example shows the opposite! Other examples in that entry show various uses of presence as countable or uncountable.
– TrevorD
2 days ago
1
Yes, a/an can sometimes be used with an uncountable noun, as your example shows. Uncountable nouns referring to personal qualities are quite often like this - he had an efficiency about him that was much appreciated by the management ? they had efficiencies about them that were much appreciated..., she had a sexiness about her that would have sold records even if she hadn't had the voice of the century ? they had sexinesses about them that...
– Minty
2 days ago
1
NB you would say he had a lot of presence / a great deal of presence, not he had lots of presences. It's hard to articulate why these cases are different but I think it's to with the qualities concerned being being abstract and unquantifiable. We may partake of these qualities but can never own them, if that isn't too mystical. Talent is another example - she had a talent for painting vs ? they both had talents for painting - we would say they both had a talent for painting cf he had a height of 6'6, she had a height of 5'10; they had heights of 6'6 and 5'10 respectively.
– Minty
2 days ago
1
1
Presense is countable. As indeed the article indicates. That's what its whole job is. The article is what makes it countable in the first place.
– RegDwigнt♦
2 days ago
Presense is countable. As indeed the article indicates. That's what its whole job is. The article is what makes it countable in the first place.
– RegDwigнt♦
2 days ago
no, check this in dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/presence, it is uncountable. --- C2 [ U ] approving a quality that makes people notice or admire you, even when you are not speaking:
– wtdark
2 days ago
no, check this in dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/presence, it is uncountable. --- C2 [ U ] approving a quality that makes people notice or admire you, even when you are not speaking:
– wtdark
2 days ago
The example you quote actually reads "He stood there in the corner of the room, a dark, brooding (= worrying) presence." Thus, despite the annotation reading U = uncountable, the quoted example shows the opposite! Other examples in that entry show various uses of presence as countable or uncountable.
– TrevorD
2 days ago
The example you quote actually reads "He stood there in the corner of the room, a dark, brooding (= worrying) presence." Thus, despite the annotation reading U = uncountable, the quoted example shows the opposite! Other examples in that entry show various uses of presence as countable or uncountable.
– TrevorD
2 days ago
1
1
Yes, a/an can sometimes be used with an uncountable noun, as your example shows. Uncountable nouns referring to personal qualities are quite often like this - he had an efficiency about him that was much appreciated by the management ? they had efficiencies about them that were much appreciated..., she had a sexiness about her that would have sold records even if she hadn't had the voice of the century ? they had sexinesses about them that...
– Minty
2 days ago
Yes, a/an can sometimes be used with an uncountable noun, as your example shows. Uncountable nouns referring to personal qualities are quite often like this - he had an efficiency about him that was much appreciated by the management ? they had efficiencies about them that were much appreciated..., she had a sexiness about her that would have sold records even if she hadn't had the voice of the century ? they had sexinesses about them that...
– Minty
2 days ago
1
1
NB you would say he had a lot of presence / a great deal of presence, not he had lots of presences. It's hard to articulate why these cases are different but I think it's to with the qualities concerned being being abstract and unquantifiable. We may partake of these qualities but can never own them, if that isn't too mystical. Talent is another example - she had a talent for painting vs ? they both had talents for painting - we would say they both had a talent for painting cf he had a height of 6'6, she had a height of 5'10; they had heights of 6'6 and 5'10 respectively.
– Minty
2 days ago
NB you would say he had a lot of presence / a great deal of presence, not he had lots of presences. It's hard to articulate why these cases are different but I think it's to with the qualities concerned being being abstract and unquantifiable. We may partake of these qualities but can never own them, if that isn't too mystical. Talent is another example - she had a talent for painting vs ? they both had talents for painting - we would say they both had a talent for painting cf he had a height of 6'6, she had a height of 5'10; they had heights of 6'6 and 5'10 respectively.
– Minty
2 days ago
|
show 1 more comment
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
This noun like many others can be both countable and uncountable.
In your case it is countable.
According to Oxford English Dictionary
(https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/presence):
Presence
1.1count noun
A person or thing that exists or is present in a place but is not seen.
‘the monks became aware of a strange presence’
As about collocation with 'about',
look at the example from Reverso.context.net:
"If by that you mean Mr Cochrane is manly, yes, he has a certain presence about him."
answered 2 days ago
user307254user307254
3,8592516
add a comment |
You have had solid answers to your question. Let me take a slightly different tack.
First, the word presence here has a special sense,
Also ‘a’ is also being used in a special way. It is not like ‘a pear’ or ‘a sports car’. it is in a deeper way ‘indefinite’. It has the sense of ‘some undefined’ or ‘some unstated’... Ancient Greek and Latin had words that did this job. In Greek the word was ‘τις’ (tis). In Latin it was ‘quidam’. Both were enclytic (followed the noun they qualified.).
Praesentia quaedam or παρουσία / επιφάνεια τις
School kids of my generation were taught to translate these as ‘a certain, conveying something undefined or (literally)* indefinite*.
So because the presence is undefined, it cannot be counted. Perhaps the presence of one or of several *whatever-it-ises *. All the character is aware of is a presence.
answered 1 hour ago
TuffyTuffy
4,0561621
add a comment |
Your Answer
StackExchange.ready(function() {
var channelOptions = {
tags: "".split(" "),
id: "97"
};
initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);
StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
// Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
createEditor();
});
}
else {
createEditor();
}
});
function createEditor() {
StackExchange.prepareEditor({
heartbeatType: 'answer',
autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
convertImagesToLinks: false,
noModals: true,
showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
reputationToPostImages: null,
bindNavPrevention: true,
postfix: "",
imageUploader: {
brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
allowUrls: true
},
noCode: true, onDemand: true,
discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
});
}
});
wtdark is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fenglish.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f491399%2fcan-a-an-modify-unccountable-noun%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
This noun like many others can be both countable and uncountable.
In your case it is countable.
According to Oxford English Dictionary
(https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/presence):
Presence
1.1count noun
A person or thing that exists or is present in a place but is not seen.
‘the monks became aware of a strange presence’
As about collocation with 'about',
look at the example from Reverso.context.net:
"If by that you mean Mr Cochrane is manly, yes, he has a certain presence about him."
answered 2 days ago
user307254user307254
3,8592516
add a comment |
This noun like many others can be both countable and uncountable.
In your case it is countable.
According to Oxford English Dictionary
(https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/presence):
Presence
1.1count noun
A person or thing that exists or is present in a place but is not seen.
‘the monks became aware of a strange presence’
As about collocation with 'about',
look at the example from Reverso.context.net:
"If by that you mean Mr Cochrane is manly, yes, he has a certain presence about him."
answered 2 days ago
user307254user307254
3,8592516
add a comment |
This noun like many others can be both countable and uncountable.
In your case it is countable.
According to Oxford English Dictionary
(https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/presence):
Presence
1.1count noun
A person or thing that exists or is present in a place but is not seen.
‘the monks became aware of a strange presence’
As about collocation with 'about',
look at the example from Reverso.context.net:
"If by that you mean Mr Cochrane is manly, yes, he has a certain presence about him."
answered 2 days ago
user307254user307254
3,8592516
This noun like many others can be both countable and uncountable.
In your case it is countable.
According to Oxford English Dictionary
(https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/presence):
Presence
1.1count noun
A person or thing that exists or is present in a place but is not seen.
‘the monks became aware of a strange presence’
As about collocation with 'about',
look at the example from Reverso.context.net:
"If by that you mean Mr Cochrane is manly, yes, he has a certain presence about him."
answered 2 days ago
user307254user307254
3,8592516
answered 2 days ago
user307254user307254
3,8592516
answered 2 days ago
user307254user307254
3,8592516
answered 2 days ago
user307254user307254
3,8592516
3,8592516
add a comment |
add a comment |
You have had solid answers to your question. Let me take a slightly different tack.
First, the word presence here has a special sense,
Also ‘a’ is also being used in a special way. It is not like ‘a pear’ or ‘a sports car’. it is in a deeper way ‘indefinite’. It has the sense of ‘some undefined’ or ‘some unstated’... Ancient Greek and Latin had words that did this job. In Greek the word was ‘τις’ (tis). In Latin it was ‘quidam’. Both were enclytic (followed the noun they qualified.).
Praesentia quaedam or παρουσία / επιφάνεια τις
School kids of my generation were taught to translate these as ‘a certain, conveying something undefined or (literally)* indefinite*.
So because the presence is undefined, it cannot be counted. Perhaps the presence of one or of several *whatever-it-ises *. All the character is aware of is a presence.
answered 1 hour ago
TuffyTuffy
4,0561621
add a comment |
You have had solid answers to your question. Let me take a slightly different tack.
First, the word presence here has a special sense,
Also ‘a’ is also being used in a special way. It is not like ‘a pear’ or ‘a sports car’. it is in a deeper way ‘indefinite’. It has the sense of ‘some undefined’ or ‘some unstated’... Ancient Greek and Latin had words that did this job. In Greek the word was ‘τις’ (tis). In Latin it was ‘quidam’. Both were enclytic (followed the noun they qualified.).
Praesentia quaedam or παρουσία / επιφάνεια τις
School kids of my generation were taught to translate these as ‘a certain, conveying something undefined or (literally)* indefinite*.
So because the presence is undefined, it cannot be counted. Perhaps the presence of one or of several *whatever-it-ises *. All the character is aware of is a presence.
answered 1 hour ago
TuffyTuffy
4,0561621
add a comment |
You have had solid answers to your question. Let me take a slightly different tack.
First, the word presence here has a special sense,
Also ‘a’ is also being used in a special way. It is not like ‘a pear’ or ‘a sports car’. it is in a deeper way ‘indefinite’. It has the sense of ‘some undefined’ or ‘some unstated’... Ancient Greek and Latin had words that did this job. In Greek the word was ‘τις’ (tis). In Latin it was ‘quidam’. Both were enclytic (followed the noun they qualified.).
Praesentia quaedam or παρουσία / επιφάνεια τις
School kids of my generation were taught to translate these as ‘a certain, conveying something undefined or (literally)* indefinite*.
So because the presence is undefined, it cannot be counted. Perhaps the presence of one or of several *whatever-it-ises *. All the character is aware of is a presence.
answered 1 hour ago
TuffyTuffy
4,0561621
You have had solid answers to your question. Let me take a slightly different tack.
First, the word presence here has a special sense,
Also ‘a’ is also being used in a special way. It is not like ‘a pear’ or ‘a sports car’. it is in a deeper way ‘indefinite’. It has the sense of ‘some undefined’ or ‘some unstated’... Ancient Greek and Latin had words that did this job. In Greek the word was ‘τις’ (tis). In Latin it was ‘quidam’. Both were enclytic (followed the noun they qualified.).
Praesentia quaedam or παρουσία / επιφάνεια τις
School kids of my generation were taught to translate these as ‘a certain, conveying something undefined or (literally)* indefinite*.
So because the presence is undefined, it cannot be counted. Perhaps the presence of one or of several *whatever-it-ises *. All the character is aware of is a presence.
answered 1 hour ago
TuffyTuffy
4,0561621
answered 1 hour ago
TuffyTuffy
4,0561621
answered 1 hour ago
TuffyTuffy
4,0561621
answered 1 hour ago
TuffyTuffy
4,0561621
4,0561621
add a comment |
add a comment |
wtdark is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
wtdark is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
wtdark is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
wtdark is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Thanks for contributing an answer to English Language & Usage Stack Exchange!
- Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!
But avoid …
- Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.
- Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.
To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fenglish.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f491399%2fcan-a-an-modify-unccountable-noun%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
1
Presense is countable. As indeed the article indicates. That's what its whole job is. The article is what makes it countable in the first place.
– RegDwigнt♦
2 days ago
no, check this in dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/presence, it is uncountable. --- C2 [ U ] approving a quality that makes people notice or admire you, even when you are not speaking:
– wtdark
2 days ago
The example you quote actually reads "He stood there in the corner of the room, a dark, brooding (= worrying) presence." Thus, despite the annotation reading U = uncountable, the quoted example shows the opposite! Other examples in that entry show various uses of presence as countable or uncountable.
– TrevorD
2 days ago
1
Yes, a/an can sometimes be used with an uncountable noun, as your example shows. Uncountable nouns referring to personal qualities are quite often like this - he had an efficiency about him that was much appreciated by the management ? they had efficiencies about them that were much appreciated..., she had a sexiness about her that would have sold records even if she hadn't had the voice of the century ? they had sexinesses about them that...
– Minty
2 days ago
1
NB you would say he had a lot of presence / a great deal of presence, not he had lots of presences. It's hard to articulate why these cases are different but I think it's to with the qualities concerned being being abstract and unquantifiable. We may partake of these qualities but can never own them, if that isn't too mystical. Talent is another example - she had a talent for painting vs ? they both had talents for painting - we would say they both had a talent for painting cf he had a height of 6'6, she had a height of 5'10; they had heights of 6'6 and 5'10 respectively.
– Minty
2 days ago