20 Jan 16 13:29, you wrote to me:   
      
    ak>>>>> and I say that drivers are allowed to park their cars near hotel?   
    ak>>>>> And it is possible that near that hotel there is no parking lot at   
    ak>>>>> all.   
      
    AH>>>> Ah... now I think you're onto something! If "parking" refers to an   
    AH>>>> area in which people are allowed to park cars, it is an uncountable   
    AH>>>> noun which we'd measure in acres or hectares or whatever.   
      
    ak>>> Why "an area" is described by an uncountable noun? It should be   
    ak>>> "There is a free parking (lot) near the hotel" if it is a noun, not   
    ak>>> a gerund.   
      
    ML>> if you use "a" in this example sentence then yes, you should add   
    ML>> "lot" or "area" or similar... without those then you would leave the   
    ML>> "a" out...   
      
    AK> Another puzzle - a noun "parking" is uncountable. It is also unusual   
    AK> for me. Dictionaries tell "Parking" means "spaces". :) "A parking" is   
    AK> wrong, no article is allowed.   
    AK> http://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/parking   
      
   what i was trying to say was directed at your statement   
      
     "There is a free parking (lot) near the hotel."   
      
   your use of the parenthesis around "lot" tells me that you can leave it out   
   and in this case you cannot... "a free parking" is incorrect... you must have   
   "lot", "space", "area" or similar words and use parking as an adjective to   
   that noun...   
      
     "a free parking space"   
      
   to leave the "a" out would use "parking" as a noun... so, the following two   
   are correct...   
      
     "There is a free parking lot near the hotel."   
     "There is free parking near the hotel."   
      
   )\/(ark   
      
   "So let me ask you a question about this brave new world of yours. When you've   
   killed all the bad guys, and when it's all perfect, and just and fair, and   
   when you have finally got it exactly the way you want it, what are you going   
   to do with the people like you? The trouble makers. How are you going to   
   protect your glorious revolution from the next one?" - The twelfth Doctor   
      
   ... 95. Know the words to your national anthem.   
   ---   
    * Origin:  (1:3634/12.73)