Articles and quantifiers with abstract nouns

🔊 المعلّمة تقرأ لك

« All nations should work for peace, honesty, generosity and courage. » Four abstract nouns — and not one article before them. Abstract nouns like love, anger or humour follow their own rules: with articles, and with the words that say how much of them there is. You already know the articles and the quantifiers; this lesson makes sure you can use them with abstract nouns. So when does an abstract noun take an article, and how do you say how much of it there is?

🎓في نهاية هذا الدرس ستكون قادرا على:

حذف الأداة قبل الاسم المجرّد المستعمل بمعنى عامّ: ⁦peace, honesty, humour, life⁩
استعمال ⁦the⁩ حين يتحدّد الاسم بالسياق، و ⁦a, an⁩ حين يُستعمل الاسم معدودا مفردا
استعمال المحدّدات الكمّية مع الأسماء غير المعدودة والمجرّدة: ⁦much, a lot of, a great deal of, little, a little, too much⁩
التمييز بين محدّدات المعدود وغير المعدود، وترتيبها من ⁦no⁩ إلى ⁦all⁩، واستعمال ⁦some of us, most of us, all of us⁩

🔑يفترض هذا الدرس أنّك تتقن:

الاسم المعدود وغير المعدود ⁦(countable, uncountable)⁩
أداتا التنكير والتعريف ⁦a, an, the⁩
المحدّدات الكمّية الأساسية ⁦many, much, few, little⁩

1. Abstract nouns: no article, the or a?

الاسم المجرّد المستعمل بمعنى عامّ لا تسبقه أداة: ⁦peace, humour, life⁩. وتسبقه ⁦the⁩ إذا تحدّد بالسياق، و ⁦a⁩ إذا استُعمل معدودا مفردا.

There is no article before abstractions — abstract nouns — used in general: « All nations should work for peace, honesty, generosity and courage. » The same is true of uncountable nouns in general statements — « Money is the root of all evil » — and of plural nouns taken in general: « We're expecting visitors. » An abstract noun takes the when it is clear from the context what particular thing we are talking about, often because a phrase after it says which: « Peace is precious » — but « the peace that followed the war ». It takes a or an when it is used as a singular countable noun: « a love of books », « a fear of failure ». And the also goes before adjectives that name a category of people: the rich, the poor, the Welsh.

Which article? — ask first: is the noun taken in general?

The noun	Article	Example
an abstract noun in general	no article	All nations should work for peace, honesty, generosity and courage.
an uncountable noun in a general statement	no article	Money is the root of all evil.
a plural noun in general	no article	We're expecting visitors.
a noun made particular by the context	the	I'll meet you in front of the post office.
a singular countable noun	a or an	My father works in a factory.
a noun meaning all things of the same kind	a or an	A friend in need is a friend indeed.
an adjective naming a category of people	the	the rich · the poor · the unemployed · the Welsh

ø = zero article: no article at all.

Fill in each blank with the definite article, the indefinite article or the zero article (ø). Then explain why you have used it.

…(1) sense of humour is …(2) ability to see …(3) funny side of …(4) life. …(5) people who have …(6) sense of humour are less likely to develop …(7) illnesses than those who don't. …(8) British are said to have …(9) dry sense of humour. They can keep …(10) straight face (= not smile) and let their voice sound as though they were being serious when they joke. As for …(11) American humour, it is usually more direct. All in all, …(12) individual's sense of humour is influenced by many things, including his or her family environment.

Task 1 — the answers, and the reason for each

في كلّ فراغ اسأل: هل الاسم مستعمل بمعنى عامّ، أم محدّد بالسياق، أم معدود مفرد؟

1. A — sense of humour is a singular countable noun meaning any thing of its kind, as in a definition.
2. the — the ability is made particular by what follows: to see …
3. the — one particular side: the funny side of life.
4. ø — life, an abstract noun taken in general.
5. ø — People, a plural noun in a general statement.
6. a — a sense of humour, a singular countable noun.
7. ø — illnesses, a plural noun taken in general.
8. The — the British: an adjective naming a category of people.
9. a — a dry sense of humour.
10. a — a straight face, a singular countable noun.
11. ø — American humour, an abstract noun taken in general.
12. an — an individual: a singular countable noun beginning with a vowel sound.

The same word can change: « life » takes no article in general, but « the funny side of life » needs the, because a particular side is meant. Look at what comes after the noun before you choose.

2. How much anger? Quantifiers with abstract nouns

الأسماء المجرّدة غير معدودة في الغالب، فتسبقها محدّدات غير المعدود: ⁦much, a lot of, a great deal of, little, a little, too much⁩.

Abstract nouns are usually uncountable. We ask How much …?, and we answer with a lot of or a great deal of, much, some or a little, little, not much, not any or no. We use much in questions and in negative sentences; in positive sentences, a lot of is more usual. Little without a is negative — not much, almost none; it often shows that the speaker is not happy about it. A little is positive — some, quite enough. Too much says that a quantity is excessive; enough that it is as much as needed. With countable nouns, the quantifiers are many, a few, few and not many. And to speak of people as a group, we say some of us, most of us, all of us.

Task 2 — A. Which quantifiers are used with countable nouns only? B. Which with uncountable nouns only? C. Which with both? D. Which two do we usually use to ask questions? E. Arrange them in two lists and rank them, from no to all.

صنّف المحدّدات الكمّية: مع المعدود وحده، ومع غير المعدود وحده، ومع الاثنين، ثمّ رتّبها من الأقلّ إلى الأكثر.

A. Countable nouns only: many, a few, few, not many — and their comparatives fewer, the fewest.
B. Uncountable nouns only: much, a great deal of, a little, little, not much — and less, the least.
C. Both: a lot of, lots of, some, not any, no, enough.
D. How many …? with countable nouns, How much …? with uncountable nouns.

Nouns	From no to all
countable	no · not any → not many → few → a few · some → many → a lot of → all
uncountable	no · not any → not much → little → a little · some → much → a lot of · a great deal of → all

A few and some, a little and some, mean about the same quantity.

Fill in the blanks with appropriate quantifiers. Sometimes there is more than one possibility.

Anger has …(1) sources. It is often the result of …(2) other remote emotions like fear, guilt, or relief. Indeed, …(3) stress or …(4) trouble after a hard day's work at school can cause anger to flare up once you are back home. …(5) of us if not …(6) of us can't keep cool because anger is often a way to deal with other problems. The …(7) of us who really manage to keep cool are those who are lucky enough to have inherited 'cool' genes and to have been brought up in a calm and serene environment. …(8) researchers think that too …(9) anger is as bad to our health as too …(10) of it. Recent studies show that women who constantly suppress their anger have a higher rate of mortality than those who don't. Another study shows that the ideal way to deal with anger is to turn it into love through that mysterious art of living called humour.

Task 3 — the answers, and the question to ask each time

في كلّ فراغ اسأل: هل الاسم معدود أم غير معدود؟ وهل الكمّية كبيرة أم صغيرة؟

1. many (or a lot of) — sources is a countable plural.
2. many (or a lot of, some) — emotions is a countable plural.
3-4. a little stress or a little trouble — even a small quantity; a lot of is also possible. Stress and trouble are uncountable.
5-6. Most of us, if not all of us.
7. The few of us — a small number of people.
8. Some (or Many) researchers — researchers is a countable plural.
9-10. too much anger … too little of it — anger is uncountable.

Look at the abstract nouns of the text — anger, fear, guilt, relief, stress, trouble, love, humour: all uncountable, and all without an article when they are taken in general.

Do this alone, in writing. Write four sentences about humour, anger or stress in your family. Use two abstract nouns taken in general, with no article, and three quantifiers — one of them most of us, some of us or all of us. Then check each abstract noun: is it taken in general? Then it needs no article — and many or few cannot go before it.

اكتب وحدك أربع جمل عن الفكاهة أو الغضب أو الضغط في عائلتك، فيها اسمان مجرّدان بلا أداة وثلاثة محدّدات كمّية.

A model answer

Humour is very important in my family: most of us love jokes. My grandmother has a great deal of patience with children. When there is too much stress at home before exams, my little brother always tells a funny story. There is little anger in our house: a little laughter is always enough to make it disappear.

In the exam, articles and quantifiers are tested in a text with blanks: you choose a, an, the or the zero article, or the right quantifier. Have three things ready: ① no article before an abstract noun taken in general (peace, humour, anger, life), the when the context makes it particular; ② abstract nouns are uncountable: much, a great deal of, little, a little, too much — never many or few; ③ little and few are negative, a little and a few positive. ⚠️ The frequent mistake: « the life is short », « the humour is necessary » — in general, an abstract noun takes no article.

What I keep — An abstract noun taken in general has no article: All nations should work for peace, honesty, generosity and courage. It takes the when the context makes it particular (the funny side of life), and a or an when it is used as a countable noun (a sense of humour). Abstract nouns are usually uncountable: how much anger? — a lot of, a great deal of, much, some, a little, little, no, too much. Little is negative, a little positive. And for people as a group: some of us, most of us, all of us.

الصفحة 1/3