Lack of vs A lack of - English Stack Exchange

The use of the indefinite article indicates singularity. "A lack of"indicates " a particular lack of"( ... EnglishLanguage&UsageStackExchangeisaquestionandanswersiteforlinguists,etymologists,andseriousEnglishlanguageenthusiasts.Itonlytakesaminutetosignup. Signuptojointhiscommunity Anybodycanaskaquestion Anybodycananswer Thebestanswersarevotedupandrisetothetop Home Public Questions Tags Users Unanswered Teams StackOverflowforTeams –Startcollaboratingandsharingorganizationalknowledge. CreateafreeTeam WhyTeams? Teams CreatefreeTeam Teams Q&Aforwork Connectandshareknowledgewithinasinglelocationthatisstructuredandeasytosearch. Learnmore LackofvsAlackof AskQuestion Asked 6years,8monthsago Modified 6years,8monthsago Viewed 15ktimes 7 2 Arethereanydifferencesbetweentheuses/meaningsof"lackof"and"alackof"forexampleinthefollowing? Thereisalackofinterestinthetopic Thereislackofresearchonthesubject Thanks indefinite-articles Share Improvethisquestion Follow askedNov20,2015at19:42 BranBran 17311goldbadge11silverbadge44bronzebadges 0 Addacomment  |  2Answers 2 Sortedby: Resettodefault Highestscore(default) Datemodified(newestfirst) Datecreated(oldestfirst) 4 InOP'sparticularexampleIthinkthere'snodoubtthearticlewouldnormallybeincluded,butthere'snothingparticularlyunusualabouttheversionwithoutit. ButIdothinkthere'sastrongercaseforsayingthatinconstructionswhere"the/alack"isthegrammaticalsubject,includingthearticlestandsoutas"idiomaticallyuncommon".TheeasiestwayIcanthinkoftoillustratethisisthroughGoogleBooks... butlackoffunding(causedtheprojecttofounder)-about1490writteninstances butalackoffunding(etc.)-about532hits Asimplied,thatdisparityisjustaquirkofestablishedidiomaticpreference.Idon'tthinkthereareanycontextswheretherecouldbeasemanticdifference. Share Improvethisanswer Follow answeredNov20,2015at21:07 FumbleFingersFumbleFingers 134k4545goldbadges277277silverbadges486486bronzebadges 7 1 Yes,I'dsayexistentialthererendersthezeroarticleoptionlessidiomatic. – EdwinAshworth Nov20,2015at21:27 @Edwin:Ireallydon'tknowwhetherit'samatterofexistentialthereassuch,orsimplythatconsequentlythe/alackwon'tbethesyntacticsubjectinsuchaconstructionanyway.It'sonlyanidiomaticpreferrence,andnotthatconsistentlyobserved,soIdon'tknowhowmuchfurtheronecouldtakethisissue. – FumbleFingers Nov20,2015at21:51 Hey,I'magreeingwithyou(it'sgettingnearChristmas). – EdwinAshworth Nov20,2015at22:07 @Edwin:Hey,I'mcertainlynotdisagreeingwithyou!IwaskindahopingImighttickleyouintoeithertellingmemoreaboutwhatyoualreadyknow,ordoingsomespade-work/thinkingtofigureoutsomethingneitherofusyetknows.Mysecondsentenceabovewasjustbywayofsayingit'snotthatimportantifyoucan'tordon'twanttobother.(Whatever-"MerryChristmas",ifit'snottoosoon:) – FumbleFingers Nov20,2015at22:20 @FumbleFingers:Thanksfortheanswer.Althoughbothusessoundfinetome,Ifeeltherearesubtletiesthatarenottooeasytoestablish. – Bran Nov20,2015at23:03  |  Show2morecomments 1 Theuseoftheindefinitearticleindicatessingularity."Alackof"indicates"aparticularlackof"(Thefreedictionary.com).Ifyouuse"lackof"youreferto"lackorabsenceinageneralway.Yourexamplesrequire"a". Share Improvethisanswer Follow answeredNov21,2015at13:34 V.V.V.V. 74966silverbadges99bronzebadges Addacomment  |  YourAnswer ThanksforcontributingananswertoEnglishLanguage&UsageStackExchange!Pleasebesuretoanswerthequestion.Providedetailsandshareyourresearch!Butavoid…Askingforhelp,clarification,orrespondingtootheranswers.Makingstatementsbasedonopinion;backthemupwithreferencesorpersonalexperience.Tolearnmore,seeourtipsonwritinggreatanswers. Draftsaved Draftdiscarded Signuporlogin SignupusingGoogle SignupusingFacebook SignupusingEmailandPassword Submit Postasaguest Name Email Required,butnevershown PostYourAnswer Discard Byclicking“PostYourAnswer”,youagreetoourtermsofservice,privacypolicyandcookiepolicy Nottheansweryou'relookingfor?Browseotherquestionstaggedindefinite-articlesoraskyourownquestion. FeaturedonMeta AnnouncingtheStacksEditorBetarelease! 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