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   Hi Ardith, long time no talk!   
      
   On 28.12.24 23:42:35, you wrote:   
      
    GH>>  Again, as you may surmise, using articles is tricky.   
    AH> Yes, I`ve noticed over the years that my Russian correspondents    
    AH> tend to have difficulty with articles in English. Based on what    
    AH> little I understand of the Russian language I figure I`d have a    
    AH> very similar problem there.... :-)   
      
   Absolutely! Articles as a concept are non-existent in some languages,   
   and for many learners it's quite hard to get their mind around them.   
   Language and mentality barriers do exist, unfortunately. Things do get   
   lost in translation. I believe it may not be as bad for us English   
   tutees as for you English speakers who, for whatever reason, would want   
   to start learning Russian just to make a terrifying discovery of nearly    
   70 various inflection forms (AFAIK) they'd have to learn, or memorize.   
      
    AH> I probably own more dictionaries & refer to them more often than    
    AH> a lot of other people do. I`d like to think I help my readers use    
    AH> them more efficiently    
    AH> ... but you may not have been here long enough to notice I say on    
    AH> occasion "Did you continue reading as far as definition #12,    
    AH> where I found the answer?" :-))   
      
   Dictionaries are indispensable, I have nothing against them whatsoever   
   :-) In our case, as far as the subject is concerned, is it correct to   
   assume that a countable noun may be allowed to exist in the story   
   without an article attached to it? Or, on the other hand, a "strictly"   
   uncountable noun may be used with the indef. article in a number of   
   cases? It seems one can't tell by simply looking it up in a dictionary.   
      
    AH> If you want to see & hear native speakers saying "would of never"    
    AH> in our local news or some advertiser telling you the XYZ Company    
    AH> is best qualified to update your windows because they are "real    
    AH> perfessionals" it certainly does. I don`t rely on these sources    
    AH> for examples of good English usage...   
      
   Would of never... Well, I've had my share of those, and Could-of-been's   
   too, reading various posts on forums/boards back in the day. I even   
   remember asking somewhere, "I wonder if this could be a contemporary   
   acceptable form of writing it?" :-)   
      
   As with that XYZ company, maybe they're just good average IT   
   professionals, not perfectionists? That is, if you mean "Windows" the   
   OS, I assume, not windows in the house. (Are those even "updatable"?)   
      
   We have to admit, not any source is reliable in this regard. And as a   
   side note, I've been listening to a great song earlier today, and it's   
   titled "Shoulda": "I shoulda let go... bla-bla... etc." (It's British   
   BTW).   
      
    GH>> In our case I`d say it`s an "object vs. substance" thing.   
    AH> (which any dictionary I`d give house room to will probably tell   
    AH> you)   
      
   Nice one! :-) "...give house room to" is not about "a room in the   
   house", but "room" as in "Make room!", right? House room = house space.   
      
    AH> If you know how how to find material such as the above, I`m most   
    AH> grateful. :-)   
      
   Search engines now make it easier than ever, that's for sure. Some of   
   us are just sleeping on such an opportunity.   
      
    AH> ... to you I`d say something more like "You`ve never heard of    
    AH> Hadrian`s Wall?" :-Q   
      
   I think I haven't until just now, but Hadrian is/was a proper noun   
   (thus no articles needed)? Anyway, given its present condition,   
   shouldn't it be more aptly termed "The leftovers of Hadrian's Wall"?   
      
      
   --    
   "Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age    
    eighteen." -- Albert Einstein   
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