Hi, ALL!

I am reading now a glittering, reputable National Geographic
magazine ("100 greatest mysteries revealed"), and in the article
about King Arthur I read:

-----Beginning of the citation-----
Historical opinion is now split. Some scholars think
that the lack of contemporary accounts of Arthur mean
he is a later invention.
----- The end of the citation -----

1. What about the absence of article before "Historical opinion"?
2. why do they write "mean" instead of "means"?

IMHO the lack of ... means...

Bye, ALL!
Alexander Koryagin

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Hi! Alexander,

On 05/02/2019 06:40 PM, you wrote to All:

Historical opinion is now split. Some scholars think
that the lack of contemporary accounts of Arthur mean
he is a later invention.

1. What about the absence of article before "Historical opinion"?

There are many opinions. I have mine. Do you have one?

2. why do they write "mean" instead of "means"?

IMHO the lack of ... means...

It simply implies 'it suggests', i.e. "...of Arthur suggest he is a later...".
Even 'implies' could have been substituted for 'means'.

An aside comment...

I will leave you with this teaser video on EwwTuub... The Sword Excalibur - The
Truth Behind [National Geographic on Nov 17, 2011]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAqb8XHGezI

I have seen another full-length video many years ago showing the entire process, which formed my opinion on the probable basis (and time in history) for the Arthurian tale. In those times, the making of swords was wizard's work. 8-)

There is an English phrase you may or may not have stumbled across: Great Minds
Think Alike (sometimes abbreviated to GMTA). I was recently doing some haphazard research on Arthur and Excalibur. GMTA, Alexander.

Cheers,
Paul.

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-----Beginning of the citation-----
Historical opinion is now split. Some scholars think
that the lack of contemporary accounts of Arthur mean
he is a later invention.
----- The end of the citation -----
1. What about the absence of article before "Historical opinion"?
2. why do they write "mean" instead of "means"?

Not sure on #1. However, #2 I believe is because "mean" is the plural
form, in this case "lack of accounts mean." Accounts is plural, so mean is also plural. If the sentence said "lack of a contemporary account," the
writer would have used "means" instead as account is singular.

At least that is how I was taught it. :)

Mike

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Hi, Mike Powell!
I read your message from 03.05.2019 02:26

-----Beginning of the citation-----

Historical opinion is now split. Some scholars think that the lack
of contemporary accounts of Arthur mean he is a later invention.

----- The end of the citation -----

1. What about the absence of article before "Historical opinion"?
2. why do they write "mean" instead of "means"?

Not sure on #1. However, #2 I believe is because "mean" is the
plural form, in this case "lack of accounts mean." Accounts is
plural, so mean is also plural. If the sentence said "lack of a contemporary account," the writer would have used "means" instead
as account is singular.

At least that is how I was taught it.

In Longman dictionary I found out "lack" can be used in both forms.

[The lack of oxygen at this height saps power.]
"saps" is related to "lack" and oxygen doesn't make "lack" uncountable.

or an uncountable form:

[Their apparent lack of progress mean they are not doing their job properly.]

Bye, Mike!
Alexander Koryagin
english_tutor 2019

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Hi! Alexander,

On 03 May 19 11:54, you wrote to Mike Powell:

[The lack of oxygen at this height saps power.]
"saps" is related to "lack" and oxygen doesn't make "lack"
uncountable.

IMHO: saps is related to power. Power is the thing being sapped by a lack of oxygen.

or an uncountable form:

[Their apparent lack of progress mean they are not doing their job properly.]

IMHO: this is unnatural to a native speaker. (I don't know where Mike got his rule from, although it may be correct for 99.99% of cases in his locale.) The passage should read: "...lack of progress means they are not...". It could be countable, in either the case of there being many (persons) involved, or in the
singular case of one person, when speaking of 'their'. English can be annoyingly imprecise at times. 8-)

Cheers,
Paul.

... finer temptress, Through the ages she's heading west,
--- GoldED+/LNX 1.1.5-b20130515
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Hi, Paul Quinn!
I read your message from 03.05.2019 13:48

[The lack of oxygen at this height saps power.] "saps" is related
to "lack" and oxygen doesn't make "lack" uncountable.

IMHO: saps is related to power. Power is the thing being sapped by
a lack of oxygen.

But "lack" is the subject, and "saps" is the predicate to "lack"

or an uncountable form:

[Their apparent lack of progress mean they are not doing their job
properly.]

IMHO: this is unnatural to a native speaker.

Yes, you are right it was my fault. That example from the dictionary was in the
form of a question (Does their apparent lack of progress mean...) and I remade it wrongly.

So, "Their apparent lack of progress MEANS they are not doing their job properly." -- here we have "lack" uncountable.

[a lack of food]
here we use "lack" as singular noun.

(I don't know where
Mike got his rule from, although it may be correct for 99.99% of
cases in his locale.) The passage should read: "... lack of
progress means they are not...".

If we apply Mike's rule we'll see that "progress" is an uncountable noun, as should be "lack", and, therefore, it should be "lack of progress MEAN they are not..." So the rule is not working.

It could be countable, in either
the case of there being many (persons) involved, or in the singular
case of one person, when speaking of 'their'. English can be
annoyingly imprecise at times.

Bye, Paul!
Alexander Koryagin
english_tutor 2019

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* Origin: nntps://fidonews.mine.nu - Lake Ylo - Finland (2:221/6.0)

Hi! Alexander,

On 03 May 19 21:39, you wrote to me:

But "lack" is the subject, and "saps" is the predicate to "lack"

I am out of my depth here.[gulp] I withdraw.

So, "Their apparent lack of progress MEANS they are not doing their
job properly." -- here we have "lack" uncountable.

Yes. (I'll play a visual pun at this point and transverse an 's'...) They're a _slack_ mob for not working hard enough.[weak grin]

[a lack of food]
here we use "lack" as singular noun.

Okay. What fun. :)

Cheers,
Paul.

... What happens if you get scared half to death, twice?
--- GoldED+/LNX 1.1.5-b20130515
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IMHO: this is unnatural to a native speaker. (I don't know where Mike got his >rule from, although it may be correct for 99.99% of cases in his locale.) The >passage should read: "...lack of progress means they are not...". It could be >countable, in either the case of there being many (persons) involved, or in the
singular case of one person, when speaking of 'their'. English can be >annoyingly imprecise at times. 8-)

That is how I would also say it, as lack is singular. :)

Mike

---
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If we apply Mike's rule we'll see that "progress" is an uncountable noun, as >should be "lack", and, therefore, it should be "lack of progress MEAN they are >not..." So the rule is not working.

No, it would be lack and means. I may be using "singular" and
"uncountable" interchangably (and incorrectly!), but I would use MEANS in
your example also.

Mike

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Hi! Mike,

On 05/04/2019 10:03 AM, you wrote:

English can be annoyingly imprecise at times. 8-)

That is how I would also say it, as lack is singular. :)

OTOH, English lacks some 'super powers' that are inherent in other languages. E.g. a plural form of 'their' separate from a singular form.

;)

Cheers,
Paul.

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Hi, Mike Powell!
I read your message from 04.05.2019 03:05

If we apply Mike's rule we'll see that "progress" is an
uncountable noun, as should be "lack", and, therefore, it should
be "lack of progress MEAN they are not..." So the rule is not
working.

No, it would be lack and means. I may be using "singular"
and "uncountable" interchangably (and incorrectly!), but I would
use MEANS in your example also.

I understood where I had misunderstood. I thought that I should use the verb form like "meanS" only with countable nouns. For instance, I thought that

Water erode rock.

but in reality

"Water erodes rock."

;-) Well, poor practice.

Bye, Mike!
Alexander Koryagin
english_tutor 2019

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* Origin: nntps://fidonews.mine.nu - Lake Ylo - Finland (2:221/6.0)

Water erode rock.

but in reality

"Water erodes rock."

That sounds correct. :)

Take Care!
Mike

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