Seasurfer Posted 21 years ago
Proficiency Tests & Test-taking
Why without an "a"?
This is a TOEFL question.
The original question is: (find the mistake)
(A. There) was (B. a) very interesting news (C. on the) radio this morning (D. about) the earthquake in Italy.
The correct answer given:
There was very interesting news on the radio this morning about the earthquake in Italy.
Can someone kindly tell me why the "a" is being omitted? It sounds natural to me to have the "a" there.
The original question is: (find the mistake)
(A. There) was (B. a) very interesting news (C. on the) radio this morning (D. about) the earthquake in Italy.
The correct answer given:
There was very interesting news on the radio this morning about the earthquake in Italy.
Can someone kindly tell me why the "a" is being omitted? It sounds natural to me to have the "a" there.
Top answer
Hello SeaSurfer 'News' is a non-count noun. We should say "interesting news" or "an interesting piece of news" at least in formal English. paco
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Hello SeaSurfer
'News' is a non-count noun.
We should say "interesting news" or "an interesting piece of news" at least in formal English.
paco
'News' is a non-count noun.
We should say "interesting news" or "an interesting piece of news" at least in formal English.
paco
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It may sound natural to you because that's the way it's said in your native language. In English there's no such thing as "a news". Sorry!
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