[Idiom] on the grounds that

[UM Chakma]

Hi,
Nowadays, I am doing a self-study and during doing an exercise I came across a phrase; "on the grounds that". I just cannot understand what this means. This is the sentence where I got this phrase "He refused to lend anyone money on the grounds that people rarely pay a loan.". Could you please clarify this sentence to me?

Thanks.



(Note: please correct me if I wrote this "I am doing a self-study" wrong. Because I feel I am wrong myself.)

 

[Matthew Wai]

See http://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/ground_1 Definition#3

a self-study

My Oxford dictionary says 'self-study' is uncountable, so I think the article should be removed.

Not a teacher.

 

[MikeNewYork]

In that sentence, you can replace "on the grounds that" with "because".

 

[Raymott]

My Oxford dictionary says 'self-study' is uncountable, so I think the article should be removed.

And this dictionary says it's not.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/self-study

Nevertheless, I think "self-study", as the OP has used it, tends to mean a study of oneself - at least in my experience, as in #2 in the above. I'd write, "I'm doing self-study..." or "I'm doing self-studies..." Note that this dictionary also doesn't use 'a'. It's simply "self-study".

 

[Matthew Wai]

Besides my Oxford dictionary, Macmillan and Cambridge also say it is uncountable.
http://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/self-study
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/self-study?q=self-study

It seems that the meaning is different from the OP's intended meaning when it is used as a countable noun.

Not a teacher.

 

[UM Chakma]

Thanks Mike. Then, does "one the grounds that" mean only "because"? Or it has other meanings besides "because"? But considering your answer, it seems there are more meanings.

 

[MikeNewYork]

"On the grounds" can mean "on the property". The lost dog was found on the grounds of his family's estate.

It also can have various legal meanings:

on the grounds adjective argued, arising from, based on, brought as a result of, brought onaccount of, built on, contingent upon, dependent on, established by, founded on, grounded on,justified by, rationalized by, relying on, rested on, rooted in, settled upon
Associated concepts: charges brought on the grounds that, grounds for divorce, legal grounds,on the grounds for appeal, on the grounds of prejudice, predicted on the grounds for dismissalBurton's Legal Thesaurus, 4E. Copyright © 2007 by William C. Burton. Used with permission of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

 

[Tdol]

Opening thread after request.