Question
17 Nov 2019
- Japanese
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English (UK)
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English (US)
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Korean
Question about English (US)
"Metal foam refers to a metal."
In this sentence,why is "a" used even though metal is a non-countable naun?
thank you!
"Metal foam refers to a metal."
In this sentence,why is "a" used even though metal is a non-countable naun?
thank you!
In this sentence,why is "a" used even though metal is a non-countable naun?
thank you!
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Deleted user
Iron is a (type of) metal.
Steel is a (type of) metal.
Copper is a (type of) metal.
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- English (US)
metal/ metal's is countable. copper zinc iron and so on are metal's. I think the confusion might lie in metal as a foam. I think of foam as light and frothy like whipped cream. I think of metals as very hard and unbending.
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Highly-rated answerer
Deleted user
@coastbc Non-countable just means that the plural and singular forms are the same.
To clarify, you would say, "We need to purchase metal for this project."
You wouldn't say, "We need to purchase a metal/many metals/thousands of metals." If you did say this, it would suggest that you meant types of metals.
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- English (US)
@sosiouxme14 Oops, my bad. thanks for the correction.
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Highly-rated answerer
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