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A little backstory here. Someone tried to school me on the internet when I made a comment about how something was a liquid. My direct quote was: "Cats are a liquid"

Now immediately someone replied with the following language lesson: The guy's comment

I get the point he makes with Air, Rice or Water, but if you want to specify an aggregation state of a substance, or in this particular case a creature, wouldn't that be correct usage?

Hyfnae
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  • Yes, Yes it does. Many thanks! – Hyfnae Feb 15 '21 at 17:44
  • Following rabbit-hole links from @Laurel's linked post, this struck me as an even better phrasing of the question, and better answer:https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/94082/when-can-you-pluralize-uncountable-nouns?rq=1 It tends to come down to whether the subject of the noun typically has varieties, or not. Like there's generally understood to be many types of liquids in the world (hence "a liquid" among many), but only one type of air, so "a air" seems to be attempting an incomprehensible distinction. – joseph_morris Feb 15 '21 at 19:45
  • And for what it is worth, the examples your interlocutor used can also ALL take an indefinite article in the appropriate circumstances. "In the cavern you'll find an air that is poisonous to breathe."; "Basmati is a rice used in northern Indian cuisine"; "Highland Spring is a water bottled in northern Scotland." – Fraser Orr Feb 15 '21 at 20:19

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