Articles and Noncountable Nouns

What's the problem in the sentence below?

My experience with the marriage was bad.

To read the Introductory units on articles, click here. 
To read about noncountable nouns, click here.

the or no article

A noncountable noun is always singular. 

Hence, a, an cannot precede it.

A noncountable noun can be preceded either by the or no article (empty placeholder).

Noncountable Nouns:  no article

Do not use a noun determiner when the noncount noun refers to an object or an idea in general. (Noun phrases are underlined.)

  • My mother taught me to have respect for other people.

  • Life is full of challenges.

  • The first settlers in America were looking for religious freedom.

  • They were looking for freedom from persecution.

Noncountable Nouns: the

When you want to refer to a specific item, you can do this by using the noun determiner the before the noncountable noun.

In the groups of sentences below, notice how the use of the article the changes the meaning of the sentence.

  • Skiing is the best way for me to relax.
    The skiing today is excellent.

  • I love snow.
    Look how nice the snow is today!

  • Marriage requires responsibility to live together.
    The marriage between Sandra and Paul was bad.

  • They should come to an agreement about things like money.
    The money that he made was not enough to pay the rent.

Solutions

Problem:   My experience with the marriage was bad.
Solution:  My experience with marriage was bad.

Review: Countable Nouns

POWER EDIT 1  In the following sentences from ESL students' writing, you will find problems in countable nouns.  Find each problem and correct the error.  When the noun changes from singular to plural or from plural to singular, you may also need to correct the verb.

(1) This song, by Cat Stevens, is about father and son.  (2)  Father wants to teach son about life, but son doesn't want to listen to him.

(3)  She has two children, boy and girl.  (4)  One behaves badly and one behaves well.  (5)  Her first child, boy, is seven years old.  (6)  He is the child who behaves well.  (7)  Her daughter, Rosa, is four years old and she is the child who behaves badly.

  Click here to check your answers.

Next... Names of Languages, Nationalities and Countries

Our next unit is Special Cases: Names of Languages, Nationalities and Countries.

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