Ads 468x60px

Pages

A halfway class of words. Class nouns in use, abstract in meaning - Noun-Parts Of Speech-ESL/Learn English Grammar

Next Lessons | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |



17. Abstract nouns are made half abstract by being spoken of in
the plural.

They are not then pure abstract nouns, nor are they common class
nouns. For example, examine this:--

The _arts_ differ from the _sciences_ in this, that their power
is founded not merely on _facts_ which can be communicated, but
on _dispositions_ which require to be created.--RUSKIN.

When it is said that _art_ differs from _science_, that the power of
art is founded on _fact_, that _disposition_ is the thing to be
created, the words italicized are pure abstract nouns; but in case _an
art_ or _a science_, or _the arts_ and _sciences_, be spoken of, the
abstract idea is partly lost. The words preceded by the article _a_,
or made plural, are still names of abstract ideas, not material
things; but they widen the application to separate kinds of _art_ or
different branches of _science_. They are neither class nouns nor pure
abstract nouns: they are more properly called _half abstract_.

Test this in the following sentences:--

Let us, if we must have great _actions_, make our own
so.--EMERSON.

And still, as each repeated _pleasure_ tired, Succeeding _sports_
the mirthful band inspired.--GOLDSMITH.

But ah! those _pleasures_, _loves_, and _joys_
Which I too keenly taste,
The Solitary can despise.--BURNS.

All these, however, were mere _terrors_ of the night.--IRVING.




Next Lessons | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |

0 comments:


Hello Friends ! Please send your requests,comments,suggestions to improve this blog. Learn English Grammar & Usage; Are U Anxious To Know The Science & Tech News; Where Are You ? Know The Changes; Health:News N Tips
Word of the Day

miry discuss

Definition:(adjective) (Of soil) soft and watery.
Synonyms:boggy, marshy, mucky, muddy, quaggy, sloppy, sloughy, soggy, squashy, swampy, waterlogged
Usage:Right across the lower part of the bog lay a miry path.
Article of the Day

The Father of the Yellow School Bus

In 1939, American educator Frank Cyr organized the first national standards conference for school transportation. One of the most memorable accomplishments of the conference was the selection of a highly visible, standardized color for school buses that would allow them to be easily identified by other motorists. The hue became known as "National School Bus Chrome," and Cyr was hailed as the "Father of the Yellow School Bus." According to Cyr, what was the main priority of conference attendees? More... Discuss

This Day in History

Adams-Onís Treaty: Spain Sells Florida to the US (1819)

In the early 1800s, tensions between the US and Spain were increasing over border disputes in North America. With Spanish power in the New World declining, it was widely believed that Spain would lose land to the US. The Adams-Onís Treaty settled the dispute by attempting to draw clearer borders, roughly granting Florida and Louisiana to the US while giving everything west of Louisiana to Spain. The US did not pay Spain directly for the new land. Instead, it compensated Spain in what way? More... Discuss
Today's Birthday

Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell (1857)

Powell was a British army officer and founder of the Boy Scouts and Girl Guides, later the Girl Scouts. He was a hero of the South African War and author of Aids to Scouting, a military textbook. Upon learning that his book was being used to train boys in woodcraft, he wrote Scouting for Boys and established the Boy Scout movement in 1908. In 1910, with his sister and wife, he founded the Girl Guides. What disguise did Powell use while gathering information in war? More... Discuss

In the News

Quote of the Day
I have often thought what a melancholy world this would be without children, and what an inhuman world without the aged.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
(1772-1834)
Discuss

Spelling Bee
difficulty level:
score: -
adj. Of or relating to semantics
 
spell the word:
Match Up
Select word:










Match each word in the left column with its synonym on the right. When finished, click Answer to see the results. Good luck!