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A grounding?

Author	Comment
Lynne Hand	A grounding?	Lead	[-]
Posts: 94 (Fri, Oct 24, 2008 12:09) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Tags : None This is about the word "grounding". In the Cambridge Dictionary there's the following entry:- grounding noun [U] Example:- This course is designed to give drivers a grounding (= a knowledge of the basic facts) in car maintenance. One of my students asked the following question that intrigued me. If a noun is uncountable how can it be possible to employ it with an article? It's my understanding that uncountable nouns never take the indefinite article (a or an). Anyone got any ideas beyond - for every rule there's at least one exception. Your Teacher Learn English Network
declineandfall		#1	[-]
Posts: 207 (Mon, Oct 27, 2008 20:33) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Hi Lynne. Greetings from Luxembourg, where I now seem to be living. I reckon: The Cambridge Dictionary should have said "grounding noun [C/U]" The example they give is of the countable use. The uncountable example would be "... give drivers more grounding in car maintenance". I think the rule "that uncountable nouns never take the indefinite article" has no exceptions (except for names, of course). If you use an indefinite article before an uncountable, it becomes countable (often in the sense of "type(s) of": a meat, two meats, a (mineral) water (brand) etc.". If you google "grounding" you get lots of information about electrical wiring. But I found I could get examples of what we're talking about here by googling "basic grounding in" (for the countable uses) and "more grounding in" for the uncountables. NB put inverted commas round the phrases in the Google box. "Background" works the same as "grounding". What does the Cambridge say about that? "Knowledge" too, maybe: "a basic knowledge of..." / "...not much knowledge of". Also "ability"....
Lynne Hand		#2	[-]
Posts: 95 (Wed, Oct 29, 2008 14:21) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Thanks. Although I'm quite happy with "a grounding in something", I'd never use the plural form, "I have groundings in English and German." It just sounds wrong. Background comes up as countable - people from different backgrounds. Your Teacher Learn English Network
declineandfall		#3	[-]
Posts: 208 (Wed, Oct 29, 2008 22:36) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Interesting, isn't it? Your countable sense of "background" meaning "family circumstances" (which doesn't have an uncountable equivalent) is different from "background" meaning "additional information/knowledge", which can be uncountable: "I need more backgound before I make a decision". Search "more background" in Google. Just because a noun is countable, this doesn't mean you'd ever use the plural. "Knowledge" is similar to "grounding" in this respect: you'd say "a knowledge of German is useful" but not "knowledges of French and German are useful. You'd jump straight to the uncountable form: "knowledge of French and German is useful". I wonder what other nouns follow this pattern: our examples so far have been knowledge/ability nouns. Something to while away the lengthening autumnal evenings...

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