From "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone":

--------------
"Welcome," said Hagrid, "to Diagon Alley."

He grinned at Harry's amazement. They stepped through the archway. Harry looked quickly over his shoulder and saw the archway shrink instantly back into solid wall.
--------------

Why is "solid wall" without "a" article? It is a countable noun, isn't it?

Bye, All!
Alexander Koryagin

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Re: Wall
By: Alexander Koryagin to All on Fri Dec 13 2024 07:56:02

Why is "solid wall" without "a" article? It is a countable noun, isn't it?

I'd just say, "oops" and call it a day.
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Hi, Alexander -- on Dec 13 2024 at 07:56, you wrote:

He grinned at Harry's amazement. They stepped through the archway.
Harry looked quickly over his shoulder and saw the archway shrink
instantly back into solid wall.
--------------

Why is "solid wall" without "a" article? It is a countable noun,
isn't it?

I can't give you an answer -- it's just a way of writing!

Cheers... Dallas

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Hi Alexander,

13.12.2024 11:56:02, Alexander Koryagin <Alexander.Koryagin@p0.f360.n221.z2.fidonet.org> wrote:

He grinned at Harry's amazement. They stepped through the archway.
Harry looked quickly over his shoulder and saw the archway shrink instantly back into solid wall. --------------
Why is "solid wall" without "a" article? It is a countable noun,
isn't it?

I can tell that in this case it "kind of" isn't. It's "solid wall" as an
idea (or type) of vertical surface, not one separate wall, neither one
of four wall in a room or something, you know what I mean? I'd suggest
you have a peek at context.reverso.net and look around for examples and
ideas of how words or expressions are used in written English (I find
this site very handy).

In the following phrases we can see the same "absence" of articles:

Okay, things don't just disappear into thin air.
I prefer to stand on solid ground.


--
"A closed mouth gathers no foot."
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Hi, Gleb Hlebov!
I read your message from 17.12.2024 13:54

In the following phrases we can see the same "absence" of
articles:
Okay, things don't just disappear into thin air.
I prefer to stand on solid ground.

Poor examples IMHO.

Just look in the Longman dictionary - it says bluntly - wall is a countable noun.

air is not
ground is not.

Bye, Gleb!
Alexander Koryagin
english_tutor 2024

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Hi Alexander,

19.12.2024 15:04:24, Alexander Koryagin wrote:

Okay, things don't just disappear into thin air.
I prefer to stand on solid ground.

Poor examples IMHO.

Could be. But you get the idea, don't you?

Just look in the Longman dictionary - it says bluntly - wall is a countable noun.

Here we go again. "Pie" or "Cake" are countable nouns as well, but
we're also free to say

"I want Cherry Pie", or,
"For Gods' sake, how can you not love Cake?"

air is not
ground is not.

They're not, technically, although could be used with indefinite
articles.

Same with "town", BTW:

"He's out of town", or,
"Tony's back in town, let's pay him a visit".

*Grok?*


--
"Hearing nuns' confessions is like being stoned to death with
popcorn." -- Fulton Sheen.
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Hi Alexander,

13.12.2024 11:56:02, Alexander Koryagin <Alexander.Koryagin@p0.f360.n221.z2.fidonet.org> wrote:

I can tell that in this case it "kind of" isn't. It's "solid wall" as an
idea (or type) of vertical surface, not one separate wall, neither one
of four wall in a room or something, you know what I mean? I'd suggest
you have a peek at context.reverso.net and look around for examples and
ideas of how words or expressions are used in written English (I find
this site very handy).

In the following phrases we can see the same "absence" of articles:

Okay, things don't just disappear into thin air.
I prefer to stand on solid ground.

--
"A closed mouth gathers no foot."
--- InterSquish NNTP Server/FTN Gate
* Origin: www.wfido.ru (2:5023/24.4222)

context.reverso.net

Thanks, gotta have a look at that URL.
Ed
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