robbierussell
New member
- Joined
- Mar 26, 2007
- Member Type
- Academic
- Native Language
- English
- Home Country
- United States
- Current Location
- United States
As an ESL instructor, we've been taught to teach our students that you do not use the article "a/an" with non or un-count nouns such as education or knowledge.
If that's true, why do we say:
"We need someone with a good knowledge of Chinese."
and
"The School gave me a good education."
and
"She has a good understanding of the subject."
and
"They have a deep distrust of the government."
and
"He has a great love for his job."
All of the above use "a" with a non-count noun. How can we explain these exceptions to the rule.
Thank you for your help!
If that's true, why do we say:
"We need someone with a good knowledge of Chinese."
and
"The School gave me a good education."
and
"She has a good understanding of the subject."
and
"They have a deep distrust of the government."
and
"He has a great love for his job."
All of the above use "a" with a non-count noun. How can we explain these exceptions to the rule.
Thank you for your help!