Tedwonny
Member
- Joined
- Jan 10, 2012
- Member Type
- Student or Learner
- Native Language
- Chinese
- Home Country
- Hong Kong
- Current Location
- UK
According to the singular count noun rule in English, countable nouns if used singularly must be preceded by some function words such as articles [a / an] and some determiners [e.g. my].
I was thinking if this still applies in the following structure:
I love + (1) an apple / (2) apple / (3) apples.
If we follow the singular count noun rule, only (1) and (3) are grammaticall; however, as 1 doesn't quite make sense - as if you only love one but you detest two or more, which is only applicable to certain contexts; the author wants to express that they love 'apples' in general. So, my questions are
- should we always use the plural forms for structures like I love..., I hate..., I don't like... ?
- is (2) possible?
Many Thanks
I was thinking if this still applies in the following structure:
I love + (1) an apple / (2) apple / (3) apples.
If we follow the singular count noun rule, only (1) and (3) are grammaticall; however, as 1 doesn't quite make sense - as if you only love one but you detest two or more, which is only applicable to certain contexts; the author wants to express that they love 'apples' in general. So, my questions are
- should we always use the plural forms for structures like I love..., I hate..., I don't like... ?
- is (2) possible?
Many Thanks