The use of the indefinite article

[Emanuelli]

Last night I was reading some English books and one of them explained that we never use singular countable nouns without an article, then I was wondering if this is only in formal English as I have always seen sentences like:

a) I like banana. (instead of "I like bananas" or "I like a banana")

Is it totally unacceptable?

Thanks a lot!

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[Steven D]

Originally Posted by Emanuelli

Last night I was reading some English books and one of them explained that we never use singular countable nouns without an article, then I was wondering if this is only in formal English as I have always seen sentences like:

a) I like banana. (instead of "I like bananas" or "I like a banana")

Is it totally unacceptable?

Thanks a lot!

EMAIL REMOVED - Send PM to This User Instead

Last night I was reading some English books and one of them explained that we never use singular countable nouns without an article, then I was wondering if this is only in formal English as I have always seen sentences like:

a) I like banana. (instead of "I like bananas" or "I like a banana") <<

It's correct to say "I like banana." if you are referring to "banana" as a flavor.

For example, "I like chocolate ice cream, but banana is good too."

If you are talking about "bananas", then it's always, "I like bananas."

I like a banana. - That sentence is wrong. You could, however, say, "I'd like a banana."

I like strawberry. - That's okay if I'm using "strawberry" to describe a flavor.

I like strawberries. - This is the only one that is correct if I'm talking about fruit.