Is “…taken to be scholarly authority” missing a preposition or an article?
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The sentence is from Harold Bloom's book Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human.
This chronology, necessarily tentative, partly follows what is generally taken to be scholarly authority.
I find this sentence strange as it stands, because among the noun authority's multiple meanings, the sense "the power to make decisions or tell people what to do" is uncountable, while the usage "expert" is countable--as corroborated by Cambridge and Macmillan dictionaries. So shouldn't the sentence be either:
This chronology, necessarily tentative, partly follows what is generally taken to be of scholarly authority.
or
This chronology, necessarily tentative, partly follows what is generally taken to be a scholarly authority.
word-usage nouns uncountable-nouns countable-nouns
edited Dec 27 '18 at 18:12
Laurel
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asked Dec 27 '18 at 17:11
Eddie KalEddie Kal
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add a comment |
The sentence is from Harold Bloom's book Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human.
This chronology, necessarily tentative, partly follows what is generally taken to be scholarly authority.
I find this sentence strange as it stands, because among the noun authority's multiple meanings, the sense "the power to make decisions or tell people what to do" is uncountable, while the usage "expert" is countable--as corroborated by Cambridge and Macmillan dictionaries. So shouldn't the sentence be either:
This chronology, necessarily tentative, partly follows what is generally taken to be of scholarly authority.
or
This chronology, necessarily tentative, partly follows what is generally taken to be a scholarly authority.
word-usage nouns uncountable-nouns countable-nouns
edited Dec 27 '18 at 18:12
Laurel
36.9k7 gold badges74 silver badges126 bronze badges
asked Dec 27 '18 at 17:11
Eddie KalEddie Kal
2471 silver badge11 bronze badges
My advice: prior to questioning a writer such as this, you might want to pause. Anything can be taken to be [any noun]. Scholarly authority is an adjective plus a noun.
– Lambie
Jan 26 at 19:09
@Lambie Duly noted.
– Eddie Kal
Jan 27 at 4:48
add a comment |
The sentence is from Harold Bloom's book Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human.
This chronology, necessarily tentative, partly follows what is generally taken to be scholarly authority.
I find this sentence strange as it stands, because among the noun authority's multiple meanings, the sense "the power to make decisions or tell people what to do" is uncountable, while the usage "expert" is countable--as corroborated by Cambridge and Macmillan dictionaries. So shouldn't the sentence be either:
This chronology, necessarily tentative, partly follows what is generally taken to be of scholarly authority.
or
This chronology, necessarily tentative, partly follows what is generally taken to be a scholarly authority.
word-usage nouns uncountable-nouns countable-nouns
edited Dec 27 '18 at 18:12
Laurel
36.9k7 gold badges74 silver badges126 bronze badges
asked Dec 27 '18 at 17:11
Eddie KalEddie Kal
2471 silver badge11 bronze badges
The sentence is from Harold Bloom's book Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human.
This chronology, necessarily tentative, partly follows what is generally taken to be scholarly authority.
I find this sentence strange as it stands, because among the noun authority's multiple meanings, the sense "the power to make decisions or tell people what to do" is uncountable, while the usage "expert" is countable--as corroborated by Cambridge and Macmillan dictionaries. So shouldn't the sentence be either:
This chronology, necessarily tentative, partly follows what is generally taken to be of scholarly authority.
or
This chronology, necessarily tentative, partly follows what is generally taken to be a scholarly authority.
word-usage nouns uncountable-nouns countable-nouns
word-usage nouns uncountable-nouns countable-nouns
edited Dec 27 '18 at 18:12
Laurel
36.9k7 gold badges74 silver badges126 bronze badges
asked Dec 27 '18 at 17:11
Eddie KalEddie Kal
2471 silver badge11 bronze badges
edited Dec 27 '18 at 18:12
Laurel
36.9k7 gold badges74 silver badges126 bronze badges
asked Dec 27 '18 at 17:11
Eddie KalEddie Kal
2471 silver badge11 bronze badges
edited Dec 27 '18 at 18:12
Laurel
36.9k7 gold badges74 silver badges126 bronze badges
edited Dec 27 '18 at 18:12
Laurel
36.9k7 gold badges74 silver badges126 bronze badges
edited Dec 27 '18 at 18:12
Laurel
36.9k7 gold badges74 silver badges126 bronze badges
36.9k7 gold badges74 silver badges126 bronze badges
asked Dec 27 '18 at 17:11
Eddie KalEddie Kal
2471 silver badge11 bronze badges
asked Dec 27 '18 at 17:11
Eddie KalEddie Kal
2471 silver badge11 bronze badges
asked Dec 27 '18 at 17:11
Eddie KalEddie Kal
2471 silver badge11 bronze badges
2471 silver badge11 bronze badges
My advice: prior to questioning a writer such as this, you might want to pause. Anything can be taken to be [any noun]. Scholarly authority is an adjective plus a noun.
– Lambie
Jan 26 at 19:09
@Lambie Duly noted.
– Eddie Kal
Jan 27 at 4:48
add a comment |
My advice: prior to questioning a writer such as this, you might want to pause. Anything can be taken to be [any noun]. Scholarly authority is an adjective plus a noun.
– Lambie
Jan 26 at 19:09
@Lambie Duly noted.
– Eddie Kal
Jan 27 at 4:48
My advice: prior to questioning a writer such as this, you might want to pause. Anything can be taken to be [any noun]. Scholarly authority is an adjective plus a noun.
– Lambie
Jan 26 at 19:09
My advice: prior to questioning a writer such as this, you might want to pause. Anything can be taken to be [any noun]. Scholarly authority is an adjective plus a noun.
– Lambie
Jan 26 at 19:09
@Lambie Duly noted.
– Eddie Kal
Jan 27 at 4:48
@Lambie Duly noted.
– Eddie Kal
Jan 27 at 4:48
add a comment |
1 Answer
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Moneta!
I think that the sentence used in the book is fully correct. This stems from the fact that authority is an uncountable noun just like water or salt. Therefore it doesn't require any articles in the general case. We can construct a similar sentence as follows:
"This liquid is thought of as healthy water."
Here you can see that the uncountability of the water makes this sentence correct.
answered Dec 27 '18 at 17:20
tyler1tyler1
1873 bronze badges
I would have been worried had it been partially correct....[joke]
– Lambie
Jan 26 at 19:09
add a comment |
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1 Answer
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1 Answer
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Moneta!
I think that the sentence used in the book is fully correct. This stems from the fact that authority is an uncountable noun just like water or salt. Therefore it doesn't require any articles in the general case. We can construct a similar sentence as follows:
"This liquid is thought of as healthy water."
Here you can see that the uncountability of the water makes this sentence correct.
answered Dec 27 '18 at 17:20
tyler1tyler1
1873 bronze badges
I would have been worried had it been partially correct....[joke]
– Lambie
Jan 26 at 19:09
add a comment |
Moneta!
I think that the sentence used in the book is fully correct. This stems from the fact that authority is an uncountable noun just like water or salt. Therefore it doesn't require any articles in the general case. We can construct a similar sentence as follows:
"This liquid is thought of as healthy water."
Here you can see that the uncountability of the water makes this sentence correct.
answered Dec 27 '18 at 17:20
tyler1tyler1
1873 bronze badges
I would have been worried had it been partially correct....[joke]
– Lambie
Jan 26 at 19:09
add a comment |
Moneta!
I think that the sentence used in the book is fully correct. This stems from the fact that authority is an uncountable noun just like water or salt. Therefore it doesn't require any articles in the general case. We can construct a similar sentence as follows:
"This liquid is thought of as healthy water."
Here you can see that the uncountability of the water makes this sentence correct.
answered Dec 27 '18 at 17:20
tyler1tyler1
1873 bronze badges
Moneta!
I think that the sentence used in the book is fully correct. This stems from the fact that authority is an uncountable noun just like water or salt. Therefore it doesn't require any articles in the general case. We can construct a similar sentence as follows:
"This liquid is thought of as healthy water."
Here you can see that the uncountability of the water makes this sentence correct.
answered Dec 27 '18 at 17:20
tyler1tyler1
1873 bronze badges
answered Dec 27 '18 at 17:20
tyler1tyler1
1873 bronze badges
answered Dec 27 '18 at 17:20
tyler1tyler1
1873 bronze badges
answered Dec 27 '18 at 17:20
tyler1tyler1
1873 bronze badges
1873 bronze badges
I would have been worried had it been partially correct....[joke]
– Lambie
Jan 26 at 19:09
add a comment |
I would have been worried had it been partially correct....[joke]
– Lambie
Jan 26 at 19:09
I would have been worried had it been partially correct....[joke]
– Lambie
Jan 26 at 19:09
I would have been worried had it been partially correct....[joke]
– Lambie
Jan 26 at 19:09
add a comment |
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My advice: prior to questioning a writer such as this, you might want to pause. Anything can be taken to be [any noun]. Scholarly authority is an adjective plus a noun.
– Lambie
Jan 26 at 19:09
@Lambie Duly noted.
– Eddie Kal
Jan 27 at 4:48