4 ms·
No, it's a noun. 'what a drivel' sounds wrong because it is a mass noun, just like you can't say "a sugar".
by doubleunplussed 7y ago
No, it's a noun. 'what a drivel' sounds wrong because it is a mass noun, just like you can't say "a sugar".
- dredmorbius 7y agoDepends on how you refer to it. Dextrose is a sugar. She is my sugar. That is a bowl of sugar. (Similarly for water/waters.) I'm not familiar with a general usage describing species of drivel in singular terms, however.
- doubleunplussed 7y agoYes, many mass nouns have a corresponding count noun with a slightly different meaning. A [type of] sugar, a [glass of] water. I was trying to think of example where this can't be done, but even "a [molecule of] dextrose" is something I could imagine a chemist saying.