[Grammar] 1 [usually plural] information that is discovered as the result of research into some

[nelson13]

In Oxford advanced 8th the explanation of "finding" as a noun is :

1 [usually plural] information that is discovered as the result of research into something

Is it better to change "the" to "a"? I was told that the idiom as a result must not be change to as the result.

 

[Gillnetter]

In Oxford advanced 8th the explanation of "finding" as a noun is :

1 [usually plural] information that is discovered as the result of research into something

Is it better to change "the" to "a"? I was told that the idiom as a result must not be change to as the result.

What an odd rule. I journeyed to the south as a result of the war, and then I moved north, my movement being seen as the result of a failed adventure.

Try it this way - I threw the dice. There were three results. As a result of my throw, the dice went into the air. As a result of my throw, the dice landed on the table. As a result of my throw, the dice stopped. The money I lost as the result of my throw was not much.

 

[nelson13]

Thank you.

So do you think the explanation I got from Oxford is a different thing from sentences like As a result, he failed the examination?

(For As a result, he failed the examination, I was told A must not be changed to THE)

 

[5jj]

When 'as a result' is used adverbially with the meaning of 'conseqyently' we use only 'a'.

 

[BobK]

:up:

In Oxford advanced 8th the explanation of "finding" as a noun is :

1 [usually plural] information that is discovered as the result of research into something

Is it better to change "the" to "a"? I was told that the idiom as a result must not be change to as the result.

Sorry to prolong the debate when the answer has been clearly given and endorsed, but I'm intrigued by this quotation from 'Oxford advanced 8th', which I imagine is the 8th edition of OALD. I can see the problem: a finding is a piece of information, but - maybe in the midst of writing [in flagrante scripto:-?;-), and maybe after editorial comments - the writer wanted to add that it was usually used in the plural. Incidentally, I'm not sure about this: the results of an experiment take the form of information; different readers may choose to divide that information into bits. How to express that, in the small number of words required for a dictionary? Is what is pluralized the 'piece' or the 'information? [A: The piece, of course, as 'information' isn't countable. But the word 'piece' isn't there.]

b

PS - I misinterpreted the '1'. Still, it's a point worth making (if not fully justified here!)

 

[nelson13]

"plural" is only for FINDING.