First of all, what do I mean by an abstract noun?
It is a noun, a thing in other words, that you cannot touch with your hand. It is a concept, idea, feeling, sensation, emotion or practice
Here are some nouns that you cannot touch:
Realization
Self-interest
Forgiveness (and almost all words ending in -ness)
Running
Greed
Violence
Cooperation
Flowing (and many gerunds)
Intelligence
Information
Contempt
Disdain
Disgust
Admiration
Respect
Envy
Hunger
Comprehension
Stupidity
Pride
Despair
Acceptance
Humility
Suffering
Pathos
Pity
Arrogance
Love
Hate
Hope
These nouns also happen to be non-count nouns - which is to say that they cannot be pluralized. (Actually, a few of them can be pluralized, but once they are they lose their abstract intangible quality). However, our interest here is in determining the use of the definite article with these nouns and others like them.
The basic rule is this: Do not use the definite article (the) before any of these words:
Love makes the world go round (not the love...)
Pride comes before a fall (not the pride)
Hope springs eternal in the human breast (not the hope... you get the gist)
Stupidity has no cure
Greed is ruining the world
Suffering makes you pure.
If we add an adjective, nothing changes, even though you might think the adjective would make the abstract noun a little less abstract.
Financial greed is ruining the world (not the financial greed)
Great suffering makes you pure
Religious hate is the cause of much suffering.
But what happens when we add a prepositional phrase? First of all, what is a preposition?
Here is a list of the most common prepositions:
about
above
across
after
against
along
amid
among
at
before
behind
below
beneath
beside
besides
between
beyond
by
concerning
considering
despite
down
during
except
excepting
excluding
following
for
from
in
inside
into
minus
near
of
off
on
onto
opposite
outside
over
past
per
plus
regarding
round
save
since
than
through
to
toward
towards
under
underneath
unlike
until
up
upon
versus
via
with
within
without
Of these, you will most frequently encounter: of, to, for, by, with, from, in, on, at, off
A preposition often gives you an indication of, well, position (hence the name), function and purpose. of the people, in the room, by the author, through the tunnel, from the president.
Another way of thinking of a prepositional phrase such as those above is as a phrase that defines what comes before it. And what comes before it will always be a noun. So, if a prepositional phrase helps define the noun, then the noun becomes more definite, and if the noun becomes more definite, it requires the definite article (the). An abstract noun that is followed by a prepositional phrase is no longer abstract. It has been tied down and put into a specific place.
Therefore, while we say Love makes the world go round, we say The love of money is the root of all evil. Why? because the abstract noun is now followed by a preposition (of), which stops it from being so abstract. It now refers to a particular definite thing.
Schematically, then, we have THE + X + Preposition + Y where X is an abstract noun.
See how it works:
Evil is everywhere in the world
The evil of wishing ill on others
Hatred rots your soul
The hatred in his mind runs deep.
Grammar is a pain in the ass
The grammar in this lesson is highly entertaining and illuminating.
Laughter is the best medicine.
The laughter between them is what sealed their love.
Money can't buy me love (yes, money is considered an abstract concept)
The money for the shopping is on the table.
Rock music has had its day,
The rock music of the 1970s was dominated by silly men with high voices and tight jeans.
When you pluralize a noun - people, tables, chairs, lessons, plates, girls... - you turn it into an abstraction. This is because once you pluralize, you are talking about a general concept rather than an actual thing. For this reason, we say things like: Chairs are for sitting on; computers are making us stupid; cars should be banned from cities, girls just want to have fun; plates should not be taken out of the restaurant; children should be seen but not heard.
So, while we say People are strange.
We say :
The people in this room are strange.
Essays are never fun
But
The essays [that] he assigned us were highly entertaining.
No comments:
Post a Comment