"suitable" vs "right"

[nessie]

Hi,

Please have a look at this paragraph:

It's very difficult to know the worth of something compared with other goods. So we have to have something for exchange. Gold, a very precious metal, was a ... material.

a. suitable
b. right

=> Do we have to choose "suitable" because there is the article "a"? Or is it just because of the meaning? If it's for the latter reason, then I can't understand very clearly since I think the word "right" also has the meaning of "suitable".
I came across this in a children song:

"Oh a family is people and a family is love That's a family They come in all different sizes and different kinds But mine's just right for me ..."

Regards
Nessie.
_________________
... something we never have again, I know... I guess I really really know..

Sorry seems to be the hardest word...

[Barb_D]

Hi nessie,
I'm having a hard time thinking of an example when "a right [noun]" works.

Does this dress look right? I just can't find the right pair of shoes for this dress. I had trouble finding the right answer. (But I had trouble finding an answer that might be right.)

I think that "right" caries more of a sense of uniquely suitable, so there is ONE right [noun], making the THE right [noun], and not "a right [noun].

I'm sure there are exceptions.

[nessie]

That's it, Bard. I also have the same idea about the choice of "suitable" in stead of "right" here I'm just not sure if it's correct

By the way, in you post you typed "I had trouble finding the right answer. But I had A trouble finding an answer that might be right" => Could you please tell me why in the former sentence you used "trouble" as an uncountable noun while in the latter you used it as countable noun?

Many thanks
Nessie

[Barb_D]

Oh! Because I've made a mistake (which I have now fixed)! I was going to say "I had a hard time" and then thought I should keep them parallel, but didn't fix what I started to write. If people do this in writing, you can imagine how mixed up our speech is!

[Yankee]

[Barb_D]

Then we're even in the "typo" contest! I'd love to be compared to Shakespeare!

[MrPedantic]

It's lucky you fixed the typo, Barb. We would have seen it used as evidence in another thread that "I had a trouble finding an answer" was perfectly standard AmE...

MrP

[nessie]

[Yankee]

Hi Nessie

Generally speaking, the word 'trouble' is used only used "countably" as a plural noun. When used this way, it suggests multiple individual problems or difficulties.
.
However, I doubt you'll ever find someone literally counting them. In other words, I would generally not expect to hear this in AmE:
"We had 12 troubles last week." X

[MrPedantic]

[Barb_D]

Nope nope nope! NOT standard! I promise.

I'm somewhere in the middle in the descriptionist/prescriptionist spectrum, but I can't say that "any statement by a native speaker is evidence of a usage's acceptability." We still make tons of typos!

Just make sure you don't call me "Brad" - unless Janet, Rocky, and Dr. Scott are there too.

[nessie]

Uhm... I still can't get it very clearly, Amy.

[Yankee]

Hi Nessie

A noun is grammatically "countable" if you can add an S to the end and make it plural. However, people do not generally use the word 'troubles' with a specific number. So, in that sense, the word 'troubles' is still technically "uncountable".

The word 'troubles' suggests individually identifiable problems whereas 'trouble' is more general.
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_________________
Amy
.
ESL teacher, translator, and a native speaker of American English

[nessie]

What about this, Amy:

- I think there's some trouble with my PC
- I think there're some troubles with my PC

=> Actually I just wonder about the use of "some" with uncountable noun. Technically speaking, when the word "some" is used with a noun, it somehow means "more than one", but I think it's OK to use "some" with a non-count noun...

[Yankee]

Hi Nessie

If you want to indicate that there are specific individual problems on your PC, I would say that troubles would be unusual, but OK in your sentence. It would be more common to say something like "I'm having some trouble with my PC".

The word some is not a number, and it does not refer to a specific quantity. It can be used with both count and non-count nouns. It does not necessarily mean 'more than one'. It refers to an amount which is not specifically defined, but which is less than 'a lot/many/much."
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_________________
Amy
.
ESL teacher, translator, and a native speaker of American English