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§ 198. Non-count nouns, abstract or material, when used in a general sense, are not preceded by any article,
as in:
Time will show who is right.
He has such huge pride.
She said with astonishment, “Where are you, Maurice?”
We walked forward in silence.
They greeted him without enthusiasm.
Premodifiers of abstract non-count nouns do not influence the use of articles, they only restrict the meaning
of the noun, as in: history - English history, medieval English history; music - folk music, pop music, classical
music; art - modern art, abstract art; weather - nasty weather, fine weather; advice - valuable advice.
He doesn’t love abstract art.
The same refers to material non-counts beautiful silk, Venetian glass, stained glass.
However the indefinite article is used with both kinds of noun if the classifying idea predominates (An
English grammar - a kind of it, a soil of it); with words denoting feeling the indefinite article suggests a
manifestation of that feeling, with nouns of material a particular kind of the substance mentioned. In contexts of
the kind non-counts are usually accompanied by descriptive attributes.
That, sir, was a profound knowledge of man.
He always had a love for the concrete.
I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t painting with my father standing beside me.
I was no good at football, but does it make an unhappy boyhood?
It is incredible to me that there should be an after life.
She put down the mirror with a feeling of hopelessness.
In nouns which may function as both counts and non-counts the absence of the article indicates a non-count
with general meaning, whereas the indefinite article shows that it is a count noun, abstract or concrete.
Compare the meanings in such pairs of nouns as:
Language is a means of communication.
It is always interesting to study a foreign language.
Light is necessary for life.
They saw a light in the distance.
Absence of the article before an originally count noun may suggest a shift in its meaning. Thus in to teach
piano (violin) the noun piano means a subject to be taught, just as history, literature, etc., whereas in to play the
piano the noun piano denotes a musical instrument with the article in its generic function. In such expressions
as to go to school, to be at school the adverbial meaning predominates and the noun loses its nominal quality.
If partition or indefinite amount is meant, it is expressed by an indefinite pronoun (some, any) or a partitive
noun (a piece, an item, a bit). With material nouns partitive meaning is also expressed with the help of nouns
denoting measure or amount (a cup of tea, a glass of milk, a pint of beer, a slice of bread, a loaf of bread, a
spoonful of medicine, a sack of coal, etc.).
All non-counts can be preceded by the definite article in its specifying function. Thus we say the art of the
nineteenth century, the music of the Renaissance, the history of England, (but: English history) the history of
the Middle Ages, and also: What’s the weather like today? How did you like the music?
Note the difference between English (French, Spanish) literature and the English (French, Spanish)
language. Here literature is a non-count, whereas the word language is used as a count noun. The adjectives
operate as specifiers restricting the abstract notion of language to one particular language.
Compare also the use of in darkness, in the darkness. The first suggests the state of darkness as such, the