Much/an ability

[Rachel Adams]

Can I use "much" in a negative sentence and should it be "the ability" or "an ability"?

"Patience and procrastination have a lot of differences. Procrastination is not a character trait. It doesn't bring much benefit to a person. It can't be trained, unlike patience. Patience can be developed in oneself. Patience is the ability to wait for something important."

Context: I am talking about the difference between procrastination and patience.

 

[Tarheel]

You could argue that procrastination is a character trait. It's the tendency to put things off

 

[Rachel Adams]

You could argue that procrastination is a character trait. It's the tendency to put things off

I agree with you. Could you tell me if the sentences are correct?

 

[5jj]

If you agree with Tarheel, then "Procrastination is not a character trait" cannot be correct.

 

[Rachel Adams]

If you agree with Tarheel, then "Procrastination is not a character trait" cannot be correct.

I mean the rest of the text.

 

[Rachel Adams]

If you agree with Tarheel, then "Procrastination is not a character trait" cannot be correct.

I mean "it can't be trained" , my use of "much benefit to", "developed in oneself" and the rest of the the sentences too.

 

[emsr2d2]

Can I use "much" in a negative sentence and should it be "the ability" or "an ability"?

"Patience and procrastination have a lot of differences are very/completely different. Procrastination is not a character trait . It doesn't bring much benefit to a person that isn't beneficial. It can't be trained, unlike patience. People can't train themselves to be procrastinators. Patience, however, can be developed. in oneself. Patience is the ability to calmly/happily wait for something." important."

Context: I am talking about the difference between procrastination and patience. That's not context. We can clearly see what you're talking about from the text. Context is something like "Next week, I have to give a talk on procrastination. I want to compare people who procrastinate with people who are patient. I'm planning to say the following. Does it work?"

See above. You have a tendency to use "verb + noun" instead of a (more natural) adjective phrase.

have a lot of differences > are very different
doesn't bring much benefit > isn't beneficial

 

[tedmc]

Procrastination is a negative trait whereas patience is positive. Negative traits do not need training; one doesn't need to be trained to be lazy. Patience on the other hand, need to be trained and developed, like other qualities such as diligence and industriousness.