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[Lenka]

Designing houses is hard work.

Why is there no article in front of hard? I'd say "... is a hard work."

[BobK]

Originally Posted by Lenka

Designing houses is hard work.

Why is there no article in front of hard? I'd say "... is a hard work."

The word work is not countable; another word you could use in this context is countable, and you would use the article:

It is hard work

but

It is a hard job

(There's a sense of work that does make the word countable, but it applies chiefly to works of art/music/literature:

Lohengrin is a hard work to understand.

But most uses of work don't behave like that.)

b

[Lenka]

Thank you, Bob!

[BobK]

You're very welcome

b