Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[BMO]

Which is preferrable?

1. He folded a plain paper in half, and put it in his pocket.
2. He folded a piece of plain paper in half, and put it into his pocket.

Thanks.

[hitori2k6]

BMO,

Actually, a combination of the two would be better.
As shown below:

He folded a piece of paper in half and put it in his pocket.

I'm not sure if you really need to say "plain", and
either "in" or "into" is ok. But "in his pocket is more
natural sounding.

I hope that helps.

Hitori2k6

[LucentShade]

With "paper," some partitive like "piece" or "sheet" is almost always used:

He handed me a piece of paper.
I tried to fold four sheets of paper at once.

Using an article + "paper" by itself usually means "research project" or "academic essay," as in, "I stayed up until 3:00 AM writing a paper for my history class."

[BMO]

Thank you both, it is very clear now.