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Episode: The definite article with abstract uncountable nouns

Author: BBC Radio
Duration: 00:06:23

Episode Shownotes

Learn all about the word 'the' and how to use it with abstract uncountable nouns.FIND BBC LEARNING ENGLISH HERE: Visit our website ✔️ https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish Follow us ✔️ https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/followusSUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER: ✔️ https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/newslettersLIKE PODCASTS? Try some of our other popular podcasts including: ✔️6 Minute English ✔️6 Minute Vocabulary ✔️The English

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Full Transcript

00:00:00 Speaker_02
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00:00:06 Speaker_05
Hello and welcome to 6 Minute Grammar. I'm Callum. And I'm Catherine. Hello.

00:00:16 Speaker_00
In this programme we're talking about the definite article with abstract uncountable nouns.

00:00:20 Speaker_05
Yes, we'll explain what that all means.

00:00:24 Speaker_06
And we'll end up with a quiz to see if we've done a good job. No pressure then. Indeed. To start with, let's just remind everyone about the terms we're using. First there's the definite article.

00:00:43 Speaker_02
What's that, Catherine? The. The what? Just the. Just the what? You're doing this on purpose, aren't you, Callum? The definite article is the word the. Articles are used before nouns. Today's topic is using the with abstract, uncountable nouns.

00:00:52 Speaker_07
Tell us about those.

00:00:55 Speaker_02
OK, now before I get to the abstract part, let's just remind everybody about uncountable nouns, which you might also hear described as mass nouns.

00:01:09 Speaker_02
And these are nouns that, as the name suggests, you can't count – they have no plural form.

00:01:11 Speaker_07
So, words like air, water, cheese, money… Wait a minute! Yes. Did you say money? Yes.

00:01:22 Speaker_02
Did you say you can't count money? That's right. You can't count money, at least not grammatically.

00:01:27 Speaker_07
You can't count money in the same way as you can count, for example, chairs. Because when you count chairs, you can just give a number. How many chairs are there? Three. Ten. Two thousand one hundred and fifty.

00:01:44 Speaker_07
But if I ask you, Callum, how much money you have in your pocket, what would you say? OK, well, let me see. I've got 5, 10, 15. I've got £15 so I can count money, surely?

00:02:00 Speaker_07
Well, yes, you've got £15 but you haven't got 15 monies. So, pounds are countable, money isn't. We are counting the pounds. I see. And what are abstract uncountable nouns then?

00:02:13 Speaker_07
Well, before we go to abstract, let's first talk about the concrete ones.

00:02:19 Speaker_02
Now, concrete uncountable nouns are things you can physically experience. That's things you can touch, see, hear, smell or taste.

00:02:29 Speaker_07
But abstract nouns don't refer to these physical things. Abstract nouns refer to ideas, feelings, emotions, qualities and concepts.

00:02:41 Speaker_02
So, things like love, fun, happiness, bravery, patience, enthusiasm and childhood. But I'm sure I experienced childhood.

00:02:45 Speaker_07
It seemed pretty real to me. Well, when we describe something as abstract, it doesn't mean that it isn't real. You certainly were a child, Callum, at some time, whenever that was.

00:02:59 Speaker_07
But the period of time when you were a child, all the experiences that you had when you were growing up aren't physical things. Together they make an idea or a concept that we call childhood. 6 Minute Grammar from BBC Learning English

00:03:20 Speaker_07
Today we're looking at using the definite article with abstract uncountable nouns. We've defined our terms, so now let's look at how these two go together.

00:03:30 Speaker_07
Catherine, can we use the with abstract uncountable nouns? Well, Callum, it depends on the context. If we're talking about something in general, we don't use the definite article. Here's Finn with an example.

00:03:44 Speaker_03
It can be difficult to find happiness. And the abstract noun there is happiness.

00:03:51 Speaker_02
Here we're talking about happiness in general – we don't use the definite article. Now, compare that use of happiness with this one. I can't express the happiness that I felt when my son was born.

00:04:05 Speaker_07
OK, now in this case, are we talking about happiness in general? No, we're talking about a specific time – a particular moment when there was happiness.

00:04:19 Speaker_07
Right, so in this case, because it's referring to a particular time, we do need to use the definite article. And note, after the noun the happiness, there's a phrase that points to the exact time being described. And in this case, the phrase is…

00:04:30 Speaker_10
that I felt when my son was born. Exactly.

00:04:35 Speaker_07
And that phrase is a defining relative clause.

00:04:46 Speaker_07
When there is a defining relative clause following an abstract uncountable noun, the chances are the noun will have the definite article in front of it. So we know that the definite article the is used with abstract uncountable nouns when we are talking about a specific example of that noun. And when we're talking about that noun in general, we don't use any article. I think it's time for a little quiz.

00:05:05 Speaker_07
Listen to each sentence and decide if the use of the article is correct or not. Finn, number one please. I've got a lot of the ambition. And that one is not correct. Ambition is the noun but it shouldn't have the definite article.

00:05:20 Speaker_02
Next one please, Finn. He had the confidence that is needed to sing in public. That is correct.

00:05:34 Speaker_02
The noun is confidence and as the particular example of confidence is defined, we do need the. Last question please. Love is all you need. Aw, of course that one is correct.

00:05:46 Speaker_07
Love is the noun and it refers to the idea of love in general, so no definite article. Well done if you got all those right. That's all from us today.

00:05:55 Speaker_10
There's more about this topic on our website bbclearningenglish.com. Do join us again for more 6 Minute Grammar. Goodbye.

00:06:01 Speaker_02
Thanks for listening to Learning English Vocabulary.

00:06:13 Speaker_07
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00:06:24 Speaker_02
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