Mak
Is "divorce" uncountable? I am watching Parks and Recreation and I hear Ron Swanson say "...both marriages ended in divorce". That got me thinking - marriage must be a countable noun and divorce must be uncountable. So I looked up in the dictionary and I found that divorce can be both countable and uncountable. So, when is it countable? And why is it not "...both marriages ended up in divorces"? http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/divorce_1
2014年10月14日 12:18
回答 · 7
4
As with so many words, both marriage and divorce can be either countable or uncountable depending on what you want them to mean in a particular context. For example, 'marriage' as a concept is uncountable, while 'marriage' as a period of union between two specific people is countable. For example: Is marriage an outdated institution? John had already had three failed marriages by the time he met Angela. Divorce is the same - it depends whether you are speaking in general or specific terms. In this sentence, I'd say the writer used 'divorce' as an abstract/uncountable noun because of the phrase 'ended in'. Common collocations with this expression are 'ended in disaster' or 'ended in defeat', so 'ended in divorce' sounds natural.
2014年10月14日
2
I'm thinking the apparent singular form of "divorce" in your sentence is used because the phrase "in divorce" works as an adverb. How did the marriage end? Abruptly. Amiably. In divorce. Basically, when nouns turn up in a sentence serving the function of an adverb or adjective, they don't take plural form. Notice how Su.Ki.'s other examples also work as adverbs (ie. describing "how", or the manner in which the action is/was performed).
2014年10月14日
countable and uncountable
2014年10月15日
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