Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[learner12]

Hello, teachers!!

(1) Reading books makes me happy.
(2) Reading a book makes me happy.

Which is better, (1) or (2)? Do you have any good sentences other than those?

Thank you in advance.

[Suzanne]

Hello!

Both sentences are okay, but they mean slightly different things.

"Reading books makes me happy." means that, in general, you enjoy reading.

"Reading a book makes me happy." means that, specifically, when you pick up a book to read, you feel better.

If you can say more about the context for these sentences, we can help you figure out which one works best.

[learner12]

Dear Suzanne:

Thank you so much for your quick replies.

I took the sentences from a grammar book. So I don't have any contexts. But the answer for the sentence is "Reading book makes me happy."

I don't know why "Reading book makes me happy" is correct. Don't you need to write "books," or "a book," not "book"? Don't you need article "a"?

Thank you again for your help.

[Suzanne]

HI!

You are absolutely correct: "Reading book makes me happy" is wrong. It's an error, that didn't get caught during the final check of the book. Your correction of "Reading a book makes me happy" is how the sentence should read.

Good catch!

[learner12]

Dear Suzanne:

Thank you for your quick replies and great explanations.

Take care and have a nice day!!