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Below are some example sentences:

  1. Her only problem is a lack of confidence.

  2. Lack of sleep had made him irritable.

  3. If he fails it won't be for/through lack of effort (= he has certainly tried).

  4. We won't be going away this year - lack of funds, I'm afraid.

What are the differences in those sentences?

Liiuc
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Jess
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  • What do the last three sentences have to do with the title question? – KillingTime Apr 13 '21 at 07:35
  • I see your examples come from the Cambridge Dictionary. It's really hard to think of a 'rule' for when we use an article before 'lack' and when we don't. There is no difference in meaning; you could say "Her only problem is lack of confidence". – Kate Bunting Apr 13 '21 at 08:10

1 Answers1

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The presence of an article simply converts a noun from non-countable to countable.

And "lack" is one of those words that can be used countably or non-countably - almost interchangeably.

However other similar nouns behave differently. Take for example "supply". One could say "They needed a suppply of onions", or ..."supplies of onions". But one would less frequently say "They needed supply of onions". But the last is not entirely ruled out.

Others, such as "abundance" would almost always require an article. "There had been an abundance of tomatoes this year" but rarely "there had been abundance of...". Though one could, of course say "tomatoes are abundant".

My attention has been drawn by the redoubtable @Edwin Ashworth to the null article which undoubtedly has great significance here.

user405662
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WS2
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  • No. 'A lack of sleep' is still a non-count usage. *'Two lacks of sleep this week left him irritable'. 'a blinding light' / 'blinding sunlight' / 'a blinding sunlight. The issue here is the indefinite v null article choice sometimes available with non-count noun usages. He took [a] pride in his appearance. You can't have 2, 17, several prides unless you own a safari park. – Edwin Ashworth Apr 13 '21 at 11:52
  • @EdwinAshworth Why are you not supplying this as an answer? – WS2 Apr 13 '21 at 17:30
  • I couldn't decide which previous question was the real duplicate. I think it has to be the one describing Master's work on the null article, as this contains the relevant analysis ... but the best answer comes in a question about definite / zero articles. // However, the thread I link to above has a more user-friendly approach. – Edwin Ashworth Apr 13 '21 at 18:40
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    @user405662 Thankyou for correcting the obvious spelling mistake occasioned by the wretched auto-correct function. – WS2 Apr 15 '21 at 17:49
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    @WS2: You're welcome! It's a privilege to be around enlightened folks like yourself and others on this forum! :) – user405662 Apr 15 '21 at 18:02
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    @user405662 Thank you for your kind remark, perhaps more than I deserve, but I upvote by way of appreciation. – WS2 Apr 15 '21 at 19:23