Thread: What a..., Such a... in plural

Какая шумная собака! - What a noisy dog!
Какие шумные собаки! - What (a?) noisy dogs!

What noisy dogs! Such noisy dogs!

Originally Posted by Indra

Какая шумная собака! - What a noisy dog!
Какие шумные собаки! - What (a?) noisy dogs!

the 'a' describes a singular, so 'what a noisy dog' describes just 1 dog.

To describe more than 1 noisy dog simply drop the 'a' and add the 's' at the end of the word dogs as you have. = What noisy dogs.

Hope that helps.

Most common way to say this:

What a bunch of noisy dogs!

Originally Posted by paulb

Most common way to say this:

What a bunch of noisy dogs!

Most common way? In America maybe.

Originally Posted by TATY

Most common way? In America maybe.

And in parts of the UK too.

Personally, I think there are a lot of contexts where you just wouldn't use the "what a... " construction in the same way.

For example, in this noisy-dog context, I think you'd most likely say "what a noise!", rather than refer to the dogs.

I'm with Tatu, "a bunch of dogs" sounds moronic.

Originally Posted by scotcher

Personally, I think there are a lot of contexts where you just wouldn't use the "what a... " construction in the same way.

For example, in this noisy-dog context, I think you'd most likely say "what a noise!", rather than refer to the dogs.

I'm with Tatu, "a bunch of dogs" sounds moronic.

Sorry Scotcher I disagree, may would use 'what a...' in this context.

Heres another one, used in certain parts of the UK as a plural, 'What a load of noisy dogs'.

I used to think 'a bunch' sounded moronic, but after living in Nottingham for a while, where 'bunch' is often used, I quickly got used to it.

I'm American and I would probably say, "What noisy dogs!", or, if my attention is less on the dogs and more on the noise, "Man, that's loud!"

I might also say, "Those are some noisy dogs!", or, "Forsooth! Those dogs are going to get it if they don't shut up!"

I'm kidding about "forsooth".

Originally Posted by Matroskin Kot

I'm kidding about "forsooth".

Im glad you clarified or I might have thought you were an american friend of mine who is obsessed with British medieval history and uses this word at every oppertunity. He says it helped him stop swearing.

The second one is incorrect and the first one is correct~Never say "a" in a sentence with a non-plural noun.Example:Dog>s<,Cat>s< Animal>s<.When you add an "s" to a word~You make it non-plural.In other words you're talking about two or more things when you add an "s" to a word.When you take it away it makes it a plural word meaning only your talking about ONE thing.NEVER use the word "a" in a sentence with a non-plural word or else it won't make sence to the person you're talking to.

Cats=Un-plural
Cat=Plural
Dogs=Un-plural
Dog=Plural


"The cats a idiot"=Incorrect unless you say it like this:The cat's AN idiot.
Cat's=Cat is
"The sick dog is a animal"=Correct
"The sick dogs is a animal"=Incorrect unless you say it like this:"The sick dog>s< are all animal>s<."

=) =) hope this helps you~

Un-plural? О боже...

Indra, так, чтобы подытожить, скажу: действуют те же правила, что и обычно. Если это исчисляемое существительное в единственном числе, то ставится неопределенный артикль, если существительное стоит во множественном числе или оно неисчисляемое - артикля нет.
Например:
What a beautiful day!
What stupid boys!
What horrible weather! (потому что это неисчисляемое существительное, и неважно, что согласование с глаголом - в ед.ч.)

Мне поначалу было трудновато привыкнуть (я насчет последнего).

Originally Posted by <~A~>

The second one is incorrect and the first one is correct~Never say "a" in a sentence with a non-plural noun.Exampleog>s<,Cat>s< Animal>s<.When you add an "s" to a word~You make it non-plural.In other words you're talking about two or more things when you add an "s" to a word.When you take it away it makes it a plural word meaning only your talking about ONE thing.NEVER use the word "a" in a sentence with a non-plural word or else it won't make sence to the person you're talking to.

Cats=Un-plural
Cat=Plural
Dogs=Un-plural
Dog=Plural


"The cats a idiot"=Incorrect unless you say it like this:The cat's AN idiot.
Cat's=Cat is
"The sick dog is a animal"=Correct
"The sick dogs is a animal"=Incorrect unless you say it like this:"The sick dog>s< are all animal>s<."

=) =) hope this helps you~

I'd say that hinders rather than helps.

Having now read quite a number of, er, weird posts by you on this forum, I have this question.
Are you serious in your messages or are you just fooling around?
Anyway, it's fun to read your posts

Explain my mistakes. :?:

Originally Posted by <~A~>

Explain my mistakes.

Don't take this as a not wanting you to post, on the contrary, we want everybody to post, but, because we are dealing with language learners from all over the world, we need to be a little careful about what we say.

The first thing when we are answering a language question is to check and see whether the question has already been answered. If it has, then anything we add later might be taken as a correction of what was said previously. If it was a simple answer to a simple question, it isn't likely that more answers are going to be helpful.

Then, of course, we want to be sure that what we say is accurate and understandable, and, though I hate to say it, your post was full of errors and was very difficult to make sense of.

Don't be discouraged, though, just start smaller. Get your feet wet, read the forums, and follow the example of others.

Believe it or not, we native English speakers are learning about English, too. At the very least, how to explain it clearly to English learners. It's not easy, so don't feel bad. We're like a family here, and sometimes family can be brutally honest

Matroskin Kot, we all couldn't put it better! Greatly said!

I agree - great post, Котик!

Matroskin Kot, там нету "проверить, правильно ли то, что собираешься написать". Дипломат. Действительно, красиво изложено.)

Всем спасибо!