a lack of / lack of - WordReference Forums

Neither work. To lack is mainly, currently used to mean "to have an insufficient quantity of [ something]" and is quite formal (and unsuitable ... Forums Dictionarysearch:  English-Spanish English-French English-Italian English-German English-Dutch English-Russian English-Portuguese English-Polish English-Romanian English-Swedish English-Czech English-Greek English-Turkish English-Chinese English-Japanese English-Korean English-Arabic Spanish-English French-English Italian-English German-English Dutch-English Russian-English Portuguese-English Polish-English Romanian-English Swedish-English Czech-English Greek-English Turkish-English Chinese-English Japanese-English Korean-English Arabic-English Spanish-French Spanish-Portuguese Spanish-Catalan French-Spanish Portuguese-Spanish Englishdefinition Englishsynonyms Englishcollocations Englishusage Italiandefinition Spanishdefinition Spanishsynonyms Catalandefinition Spanish French Italian Login Register What'snew Search Rules/Help/FAQ Members InterfaceLanguage Menu Login Register Installtheapp Install EnglishOnly EnglishOnly Youareusinganoutofdatebrowser.Itmaynotdisplaythisorotherwebsitescorrectly.Youshouldupgradeoruseanalternativebrowser. alackof/lackof Threadstarter semeeran Startdate Feb6,2017 S semeeran SeniorMember IndianTamil,India 1.Neithersmokedetectorsnorfiresprinklershadbeeninstalledduetoalackoffunds. 2.Neithersmokedetectorsnorfiresprinklershadbeeninstalledduetolackoffunds. IamverymuchconfusedwhetherIshoulduse'alackof'or'lackof'intheabovesentence. Pleaseenlightenme. Thanks.   TheNewt SeniorMember USA/EEUU English-US Iwoulduse"alackof.""Lackof"wouldbeacceptablebutit'sabitinformal.Iwouldprobablyaddacommaafter"installed."   S semeeran SeniorMember IndianTamil,India 1.Theinaccurateplanningisduetothemanager'slackofrelevanttechnicalknowledge. 2.Theinaccurateplanningisduetothemanager'salackofrelevanttechnicalknowledge. WhatshouldIuseinthissentence?Isit'alackof'or'lackof'? Thanksforyourguidance.   TheNewt SeniorMember USA/EEUU English-US semeeransaid: 1.Theinaccurateplanningisduetothemanager'slackofrelevanttechnicalknowledge. 2.Theinaccurateplanningisduetothemanager'salackofrelevanttechnicalknowledge. WhatshouldIuseinthissentence?Isit'alackof'or'lackof'? Thanksforyourguidance. Clicktoexpand... "Themanager'slack"iscorrect."Lack"canonlyhaveonearticleprecedingit:"the(manager's)lack."   E Edinburgher SeniorMember Scotland German/Englishbilingual TheNewtsaid: "Themanager'slack"iscorrect. "Lack"canonlyhaveonearticleprecedingit:"the(manager's)lack." Clicktoexpand... The"the"before"manager's"isnotanarticlefor"lack",butfor"manager"."Themanager's"qualifies"lack",andwedon'tputarticlesafterqualifiers.   TheNewt SeniorMember USA/EEUU English-US Edinburghersaid: The"the"before"manager's"isnotanarticlefor"lack",butfor"manager"."Themanager's"qualifies"lack",andwedon'tputarticlesafterqualifiers. Clicktoexpand... Agreed.Abetterwordmighthavebeen"determiner."   S semeeran SeniorMember IndianTamil,India 1.Shehasbeensufferingfrom(lackof)/(alackof)sleeplately. 2.Herproblemis(lackof)/(alackof)sleep. WhatshouldIuseinthesesentences? Pleaseclarifyittome. Thanks.   TheNewt SeniorMember USA/EEUU English-US semeeransaid: 1.Shehasbeensufferingfrom(lackof)/(alackof)sleeplately. 2.Herproblemis(lackof)/(alackof)sleep. WhatshouldIuseinthesesentences? Pleaseclarifyittome. Thanks. Clicktoexpand... Youcanuseeither.   S semeeran SeniorMember IndianTamil,India 'Thecasewasdismissedforlackofevidence.' IhavegotconfusionwhetherIcanuse'alackof'intheabovesentence. Whatistheguidancetouse'lackof'and'alackof'? Pleaseguideme. Thanks.   E Edinburgher SeniorMember Scotland German/Englishbilingual Thereisnorulethatsayswemustnotuse"a"here.Nevertheless,asarule,wegenerallydon't. Doesthisbelowansweryourquestion? GoogleNgramViewer Thedifferenceisevenmoremarkedwhenitisevidencethat'slacking: GoogleNgramViewer   PaulQ SeniorMember UK English-England Thereisnodifferencebetween"lackof[noun]1"and"alackof[noun]1" Thisisbecauseofthemeaningoftheword“a/an” In“a/an+noun”,a/anisanadjectiveand,inthiscase,meansoneexample/instance/occurrenceof,etc. Therewasalackofcareinhandlingthedynamite.=Therewasoneinstanceoflackofcareinhandlingthedynamite. Therewaslackofcareinhandlingthedynamite.=Therewas,generally,lackofcareinhandlingthedynamite. Youwillseethattoallintentsandpurposes,botharethesame. "Alackof[noun]"isoften,butnotalways,followedby"bysomeone/something" "Lackof[noun]"isoften,butnotalways,followedbynothing. 1NB[noun]iseitheranuncountablenounorapluralcountablenoun.   Lastedited:Feb8,2017 TheNewt SeniorMember USA/EEUU English-US semeeransaid: 'Thecasewasdismissedforlackofevidence.' IhavegotconfusionwhetherIcanuse'alackof'intheabovesentence. Whatistheguidancetouse'lackof'and'alackof'? Pleaseguideme. Thanks. Clicktoexpand... Iwouldsaythat"(dismissed)forlackofevidence"(withnoarticle)isafixedphrase.Youcould,ontheotherhand,say"duetoalackofevidence."   nortmas NewMember Russian Hi,guysalsohaveaquestionaboutthisconfusingword Whatistherightwaytoformulateaphraselike,forexample,myfriendbroughtmesomereallyusefulthing.Ihavesomeoptionstorespondbutnotsureitsoundsnatural. -Ohhman,thankyou!Ilackeditalot!(I'veneverseen/heardthiswordinpasttense.Sonotsureit'scorrect.) -Ihadalackofthis!Thankyou! Ormaybeyouwouldsaydifferentlyinthiscase?Thankyou!   TheNewt SeniorMember USA/EEUU English-US nortmassaid: Hi,guysalsohaveaquestionaboutthisconfusingword Whatistherightwaytoformulateaphraselike,forexample,myfriendbroughtmesomereallyusefulthing.Ihavesomeoptionstorespondbutnotsureitsoundsnatural. -Ohhman,thankyou!Ilackeditalot!(I'veneverseen/heardthiswordinpasttense.Sonotsureit'scorrect.) -Ihadalackofthis!Thankyou! Ormaybeyouwouldsaydifferentlyinthiscase?Thankyou! Clicktoexpand... Wewouldn'tuse"lack(ed)"butyoucouldsay"Ireallyneededthis."   PaulQ SeniorMember UK English-England nortmassaid: myfriendbroughtmesomereallyusefulthing.Ihavesomeoptionstorespondbutnotsureitsoundsnatural. -Ohhman,thankyou!Ilackeditalot!(I'veneverseen/heardthiswordinpasttense.Sonotsureit'scorrect.) -Ihadalackofthis! Clicktoexpand... Neitherwork. Tolackismainly,currentlyusedtomean"tohaveaninsufficientquantityof[something]"andisquiteformal(andunsuitableforyourcontext.) Inthissenseitismainlyusedwithpluralsanduncountablenouns,althoughitsusewithpluralsisalsocurrentlyuncommon. Youcannotsay"Ilackeditalot!"because"alot"isanadverband"lack"cannotbeeasilyquantified. Youcanusequantitytomodifytheobject:"Ilackalotofthem/knowledge"ifforexampleyouaredescribinganincompletecollectionofarticlesoranincompleteknowledgeofsomething. Butitremainsquiteformal.   nortmas NewMember Russian @PaulQThankyoufortheextensiveresponse!Cool,butwhatcanIsayinmycase SoIwouldliketoemphasizethatIt'sreallyimportantthing(onethingnotplurals)forme(Ireallyneededthisitwaskindofvital)andIreallyappreciateit. IknowitmayseemweirdbutmyRussianstiffbraincan'tgeneratesomethingsimpleandappropriateforthis. Thankyou,guys!   PaulQ SeniorMember UK English-England Thenewtmakesonesuggestionat#14. and,dependingonwhatitis: -Great!That'swhathasbeenmissingfrommylife! -Whoa!Thankyou![That'sexactlywhat]I'vealwayswanted! -Perfect!-I'vebeenpromisingmyselfthatI'dgetoneofthoseallmylife.Thankyou!   Youmustloginorregistertoreplyhere. Share: Facebook Twitter Reddit WhatsApp Email Share Link EnglishOnly EnglishOnly Top