noun vs. verb

[KLPNO]

Hello everyone

I'd like to ask which part of speech (noun or verb) I should use in sentences such as the following:

One of the requirements for being a successful applicant on the labour market is knowledge of foreign languages. Or it should be "is to know foreign languages"?

[philo2009]

The noun form is fine here, although it needs an article: 'a knowledge of foreign languages...'.

[KLPNO]

The noun form is fine here, although it needs an article: 'a knowledge of foreign languages...'.

Thank you very much, philo2009.

[jayan12]

Thank you very much, philo2009.

A knowledge of foreign languages ?? Why do we need A


please explain it.

thanks

[KLPNO]

A knowledge of foreign languages ?? Why do we need A


please explain it.

thanks

Well, I have to admit that usage of articles in English is a very difficult subject for native speakers of Russian because the Russian language doesn't have articles at all. English dictionaries, for example Longman, say that knowledge is an uncountable noun. But according to Google, it seems that the phrase "is a knowledge of" is widely used:

Google

[Charlie Bernstein]

The noun form is fine here, although it needs an article: 'a knowledge of foreign languages...'.

Adding the a is fine but not needed. It reads perfectly well without it. Were you checking Google or Gogol?

[I edit copy and have tutored college writing.]

[KLPNO]

Adding the a is fine but not needed. It reads perfectly well without it. Were you checking Google or Gogol?

[I edit copy and have tutored college writing.]

Thank you very much, Charlie.

[philo2009]

Adding the a is fine but not needed. It reads perfectly well without it. Were you checking Google or Gogol?

[I edit copy and have tutored college writing.]

Not grammatically essential, I agree, but - I would submit - rather more idiomatic here with than without, where the noun 'knowledge' is rendered more specific in sense by the presence of the postmodifying genitive.