Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Mint]

It's test time in my school and the teachers are mulling over the various answers the student's made on the writing portion of their exams.

One in particular has me stumped, can anybody tell me why this feels correct?

1 "She is terrible in art class."
2 "She is terrible in art classes."
3 "She is terrible in the art class."

I feel, depending on the situation, all of these sentences are proper. However, my coworkers wonder why there is no article in sentence 1. Can anybody help me explain my intuition? Thanks in advance!

[withgusto]

All correct.

If you can understand, they can say, "3898u8lkjhope ojkiewao0irjh ewoifr"
and it wouldn't matter.

Ya feel me? No, but they're all correct.

[edwardcatflap]

I would suggest that in the first sentence 'art class' becomes an abstract noun ( a noun representing an idea rather than a physical thing, which doesn't need an article) in the same way as subjects do, e.g. 'she is terrible in History' The other two sentences descibe the more physical activity of the lesson.

[ChilgokBlackHole]

[bettypie]

[Seoulman69]

1 refers to a singular art class that may be recurring. (e.g. she is terrible in the art class at school A)
2 refers to plural art classes. (e.g. she is terrible in art classes at school A, school B, and youth centre A.)
3 sounds wrong. I can't explain why. Perhaps it is because it doesn't properly specify which art class. (e.g. the art class at School A)

[withgusto]

"How can anyone feel you when you're impossible to understand? Can you please speak English, Korean, Japanese, Mandarin, Spanish, French, or whatever language might make your post easier on the eyes?"

I'm sorry I was very unclear. All those smileys are not easy on the eyes. Let me try to make my point easier to understand.

IF..... I use hand gestures, body language, speaking with food in my mouth, dialect from here or there, handshakes, any other mode of comm
THEN it doesn't matter how grammatically correct one is being.
If you can can understand me, then I have communicated in an effective manner.

Somehow I think you'd feel me, Black hole. We should meet to find out. You down?

All 3 sentences are correct.

[ChilgokBlackHole]

[withgusto]

Hey man, get with the program.

Do you teach your students slang or vernacular?

'Ya feel me?' is a term about understanding or comprehension
or relation, which is a very popular term with some Americans,
as you claimed you were.
It was a friendly gesture. I'm a lover, not a fighter.

This is for you.

[Mint]

Thanks for the help folks!

Gusto, aehr0a8er0ehraher0ehre. No tagbacks.

[edwardcatflap]

[jugbandjames]

Each sentence is correct, but they have slightly different meanings. The reason you don't need an article in 1 is because in some common fixed expressions dealing with place, time, and movement, normally counted nouns are treated as uncountable nouns, without articles.

examples:

to class, in class, at school, into bed, etc.


Art is simply modifying class, so it fits this rule, although it's an exception to the normal article rule. If that's not what you're testing for, then it's a poorly formed question.

[edwardcatflap]

I was talking about subjects as in history, geography, science, etc..., which don't require articles.

[jugbandjames]

Ah, academic subjects, that makes more sense.

Regardless, it's not an issue of abstract versus concrete. It's an issue of countable versus uncountable. Uncountable nouns, like "water," can be used without articles or determiners. I think you're confused because many abstract nouns tend to also be uncountable, but not all. Some abstract nouns are countable and require an article. Some normally countable nouns, like "bed" or "class" become uncountable in these exceptional cases.

[jugbandjames]