Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Whistleblower]

Not sure this has been answered but here goes:

1 "She is terrible in art class."
This refers to a woman who is not good in one "art class".

2 "She is terrible in art classes."
This refers to a woman who is not good in any "art classes".

3 "She is terrible in the art class."
This refers to a woman who is not good in one specific "art class" the speaker and listener know both about. For example, "the" is used when both listener and speaker know the object (the museum, the train station, the Telegraph, etc).


I hope this helps.

[edwardcatflap]

[jugbandjames]

Using a comma between two adjectives doesn't equate their meanings. There is still a difference between an abstract noun and a generalization about some noun, be it abstract or concrete.

The reason "I like tv" and "I bought a tv" are different is because there are different senses of the word--one that's abstract and one that's concrete. The abstract one being anything broadcast on a television and the concrete one being the actual device you use to receive the broadcast. The receiving device is concrete and countable, but the material being broadcasted is abstract. However, that's a lexical issue, not a grammatical one. Not all nouns have both a concrete and abstract meaning.

Let's bring it back to the OP, though, because the discussion is getting a bit nebulous, yet there still doesn't seem to be a consensus.

[edwardcatflap]

[jugbandjames]

I'm not quite sure how my admission that a lexical item can have both a concrete sense and an abstract sense proves your point.

To reference your original point, which was the source of our disagreement:

[Mint]

I used counter-examples and illustrated what each of them meant:

He likes dance.
He likes dancing.
He likes the dance.
He likes the dances.

I think they got it. Didn't know this would be so contentious, geez. I've got a bottle of toad juice laying about we can all drink out of miniature paper cups, any takers?

[TheChingu]

The third sentance sounds a bit redudant on the ears.

We already know that the speaker is talking about a single art class. Someone explained that the third sentance describes an art class that is known by both speaker and listener. I feel that first sentance does the same, and sounds more natural. The second sentance I intepret as a generalization.

Anyways I wouldn't teach my students to use the article likely when referring to a specific class as it sounds unnatural and forced.

Then again I'm no grammar Nazi.

[cincynate]

Please don't ream the student that put 'the art class'. I have such a hard time getting my students to use articles, that when they mistakenly add one where it doesn't belong, I let it slide.