What time did you finish work?

[George22]

Hello!

Could you please explain to me, why don't we need an article before nouns in the following sentences:

1. What time did you finish _ work?

2. After you come back from _ holiday you feel yourself perfectly.

I think that work in this meaning is uncountable noun, so that's the reason. Correct me please, if I wrong.

Thank you!

 

[GoesStation]

I can't think of a way to explain why there's no article in What time did you finish work?

Sentence 2 doesn't make sense. Do you mean something like After you come from __ holiday, you feel great? In American English, you'd need an indefinite article before holiday.

 

[Boris Tatarenko]

Actually, I can perfectly imagine a situation where the sentence "What time did/do you finish the work" is totally fine.

If my memory serves me correctly, it's just a common phrase, so you'd better keep it in my mind. Moreover, yes, you're right. the noun "work" is uncountable. ;-)

 

[kilroy65]

Sometimes, we don't use any article when we talk about things in general:

I don't want to work. Work is boring.
She's on holiday next week.
Dogs make the best pets.

 

[kilroy65]

Actually, I can perfectly imagine a situation where the sentence "What time did/do you finish the work" is totally fine.

If my memory serves me correctly, it's just a common phrase, so you'd better keep it in my mind. Moreover, yes, you're right. the noun "work" is uncountable. ;-)

Boris, I think "What time do you finish work" would be correct. Besides, "work" can also be countable in a different sense: "The works of Shakespeare are all great."

 

[Boris Tatarenko]

Boris, I think "What time do you finish work" would be correct. Besides, "work" can also be countable in a different sense: "The works of Shakespeare are all great."

My bad. I mean that the word "work" in the meaning we're discussing here is always uncountable. :-D

I should have expressed my thought clearly.

 

[kilroy65]

Yes, you're right. In the OP's example, it is an uncountable noun, as stated in post #4.

 

[Tarheel]

When we talk about "the works of Shakespeare" we are talking about his writings in total. We do not talk about one, two, or three works in that sense.

 

[tedmc]

As Tarheel said, the "works" of Shakespeare does not mean "work" is countable either.

 

[kilroy65]

When we talk about "the works of Shakespeare" we are talking about his writings in total. We do not talk about one, two, or three works in that sense.

It can also be used as a countable noun in the singular- meaning 4c: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/work

 

[Tarheel]

I never thought I would I disagree with somebody about the concept of countable. Many things are countable. You can have one or more of them. However, if you can't put a number in front of it it's not countable.

 

[Tarheel]

Some people have to be right even when they're wrong. Kilroy, you remind me of Ivan. (Ivan owned grammar books, which he often referred to so he could "correct" people.)

www.dictionary.com

 

[kilroy65]

Please, Tarheel, no hard feelings. It is not my intention to "correct" people. I'm not a native English speaker and I have never lived in an English speaking country. My English is far from perfect. That is why I joined this forum. After all, we are just discussing grammar here.

 

[emsr2d2]

Please, Tarheel, no hard feelings. It is not my intention to "correct" people. I'm not a native English speaker and I have never lived in an English-speaking country. My English is far from perfect. That is why I joined this forum. After all, we are just discussing grammar here.

Your underlined statement above is a little flippant for a forum which is dedicated entirely to the correct use of English. It's not "just" grammar. This is really important to a lot of people.

 

[kilroy65]

I apologize! I meant to say "nothing personal".