misunderstanding(s) I always thought the word 'misunderstanding' was always countable, but I came across a sentence that said "...much misunderstanding," so I looked the word up in the dictionary, and

HCast

misunderstanding(s) I always thought the word 'misunderstanding' was always countable, but I came across a sentence that said "...much misunderstanding," so I looked the word up in the dictionary, and to my surprise, it can be either countable or uncountable! (I hate when this happens... Darn you, English!) So my request is, can someone show me the difference between "more misunderstandings" and "much misunderstanding"?

Jul 11, 2013 7:04 PM

Answers · 12

"A misunderstanding" would be a particular incident where something was misunderstood. If there have been many of these, you can say "there were a lot of misunderstandings". You could also say "there was much misunderstanding" if you want to de-emphasize the specific incidents and describe a general and frequent occurrence. You can do the same with 'argument'.

July 11, 2013

You can compare it with "crime", it can also be countable or not. "We have to fight crime in this city" "There too much crime in this city" But "Three crimes were reported this morning" I hope this helps.

July 11, 2013

Hi Hcast: Perhaps the issue revolves around the very "fluidity" and the "flexibility" of the English language itself? English is a language which lends itself to great potential in expression. That is because there are circumstances where the "rules" for usage are not always so limiting and restrictive? .

July 12, 2013

Alan, are you saying that you could make any uncountable a countable noun??

July 12, 2013

I found this in an English textbook, so I'm assuming it wasn't a misuse. But true, if I had found it anywhere else, I would have disregarded it as a mistake or a typo. Thanks for the input!

July 12, 2013

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