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"such awful food" vs. "such a awful food"



 
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ESL Forums | English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
difference between 'almost all' and 'most of' | Do you know the idiom "white girl"?
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"such awful food" vs. "such a awful food" Wed May 02, 2007 13:29 pm  "such awful food" vs. "such a awful food"
 

Hello everybody!

Could you clarify to me why in following sentence we should use "such" instead of "such a" ...

"The food at the hotel was so awful. I've never eaten such awful food."

kind regards,
Zajac!
Zajac
I'm new here and I like it ;-)


Joined: 28 Apr 2007
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"such awful food" vs. "such a awful food" Wed May 02, 2007 13:38 pm  "such awful food" vs. "such a awful food"
 

.
'Food' here is uncountable, so no 'a'.
.
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"such awful food" vs. "such a awful food" Wed May 02, 2007 13:38 pm  "such awful food" vs. "such a awful food"
 

Food is uncountable here, Zajac

Edit: MM, you proved to be the fastest. Wink
Pamela
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"such awful food" vs. "such a awful food" Wed May 02, 2007 13:41 pm  "such awful food" vs. "such a awful food"
 

'Food' doesn't take an indefinite article in your sentence because the noun is uncountable here.

Edit: Oops! Well, better three than none.
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"such awful food" vs. "such a awful food" Wed May 02, 2007 14:04 pm  "such awful food" vs. "such a awful food"
 

thanks!

I should remember about that!

Zajac
Zajac
I'm new here and I like it ;-)


Joined: 28 Apr 2007
Posts: 19

"such awful food" vs. "such a awful food" Wed May 23, 2007 8:37 am  "such awful food" vs. "such a awful food"
 

Even if the noun is countable , we cannot say "such a awful...." because the adjective begins with a vowel .
Sultano
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"such awful food" vs. "such a awful food" Wed May 23, 2007 9:30 am  "such awful food" vs. "such a awful food"
 

.
'More haste, less speed'. Thanks, Sultano.
.
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who teaches English for a living at Mister Micawber's
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"such awful food" vs. "such a awful food" Wed May 23, 2007 10:33 am  "such awful food" vs. "such a awful food"
 

Mister Micawber wrote:
.
'More haste, less speed'.
.

This might be off-topic, but I find it interesting to compare this saying with its French and Spanish equivalents, which are, respectively:

- Hurry up slowly.

- Dress me slowly, I'm in a hurry.
Conchita
Language Coach


Joined: 26 Dec 2005
Posts: 2823
Location: Madrid, Spain

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