Hello everyone. Could you give me a hint how to identify whether it’s necessary to use the indefinite article with uncountable nouns when they have an adjective with them? Should I always use the inde

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Alex G

Hello everyone. Could you give me a hint how to identify whether it’s necessary to use the indefinite article with uncountable nouns when they have an adjective with them? Should I always use the indefinite article with an uncountable noun if it has an adjective? Why are the uncountable nouns “trouble” and “immorality” have the indefinite article in the following sentences? I am in a big trouble and I need your suggestion and advice. Fr. Wipfler stated his view that impunity is not only the absence of justice, it is also a sin and a terrible immorality.

2025年5月19日 12:36

回答 · 10

indefinite article = a/an are never used with uncountable nouns singular (money, news, advice) or plural (trousers, scissors) either "the" or nothing

2025年5月20日 09:28

"a big trouble" is incorrect. OK: "I am in trouble" "I am in big trouble" (slang) "I'm in a lot of trouble" Sorry I have never seen immortality with a adjective. I feel that is some rhetoric (artistic writing).

2025年5月19日 22:18

I don't think it has anything to do with the presence of adjective. If you left out the word "terrible," the proper phrasing would still be "a sin and an immorality." (The indefinite article changes from "a" to "an" for euphony, when preceding a word that begins with a vowel sound). You could avoid the indefinite article by changing "sin" and "immorality" to their adjectival forms, though: "it is also sinful and immoral."

2025年5月19日 13:49

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