English Grammar: Lack / Lack of - Espresso English

When lack is used as a VERB, we do not use “of.” We just say “lack” followed by the thing that is missing or that there isn't enough of. Here are some more ... TodayIwanttoteachyouhowtousetheword“lack”correctly.I’venoticedsomeofmystudentsmakingalittlemistakewiththisword,sothislessonwillhelpyoulearnwhichonetouse–“lack”or“lackof.”It’saverysmalldetail,butit’simportanttolearnsothatyourEnglishgrammariscorrect. Ifyou’dliketogetcorrectionsonyourgrammar,joinmyAdvancedEnglishGrammarCourse,whichincludeswritingtasksthatyoucansendmeforfeedback. LACK(verb) Firstlet’slookatthedefinitionoftheword“lack”–itreferstoabsence,or“beingwithout”or“havinglessthanwhatisneeded.”Soifyousay“Thisfoodlackssalt,”itmeansthereisnosaltornotenoughsaltinthefood. Somestudentsmakethemistakeofsaying“Thisfoodlacksofsalt”–that’sincorrect. WhenlackisusedasaVERB,wedonotuse“of.”Wejustsay“lack”followedbythethingthatismissingorthatthereisn’tenoughof.Herearesomemoreexamples: Theprojectlackedfunding,soitwascanceled. Helacksmotivationtostudy. Ijuststartedworking,soI’mlacking experience. Inthosesentences,lackfunctionsasaverb. LACK(noun) LackcanALSObeusedasanoun!Andwhenlackisusedasanoun,thenwedosay“lackof”+thethingthatismissingorinsufficient.Lookattheseexamplesoflackbeingusedasanoun: Theprojectwascanceledduetoalackof funding. Hislackofmotivationtostudyresultsinbadgrades. Iwasdisqualifiedfromthejobbasedonmylackof experience. LACKvs.LACKOF Whenusinglackasaverb,it’sfolloweddirectlybyanobject. Whenusinglackasanoun,wesaylackof+theobject. Thisfoodlacks salt. Thelackofsaltmakesthisfoodinedible. It’sunderstandablethattheselittledetailsofEnglishgrammarcanbeconfusing!That’swhyIcreatedtheAdvancedEnglishGrammarCourse,tohelpmaketherulesofthelanguageclear–andtohelpyouputthemintopracticeinyourownEnglish. MasterthedetailsofEnglishgrammar: Learnmoreaboutthiscourse Tweet PinIt