Why can we say "a change of address", "a change of plan", etc. without any articles in front of "address" and "plan"? Aren't they countable nouns? Is it some kind of idiom for "a change of X" or a special usage of grammar?
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1Not to mention which, how come you can change your mind but you're unlikely to change your heart? Despite the fact that you can have a change of heart, but you're unlikely to have a change of mind.– FumbleFingersCommented Dec 23, 2013 at 18:14
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Sorry, could you elaborate your comment a bit? I don't get it. I've also edited my question to make it clearer. Thanks.– JJcatCommented Dec 23, 2013 at 19:51
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When I wrote it, my point was simply that change of mind sounded a bit odd to me, whereas changed my mind and changed my plan both sound unexceptional. But I now see that, in fact, minds are changed more often than plans. I can't say why, though.– FumbleFingersCommented Dec 23, 2013 at 21:28
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3 Answers
It is true that a singular countable noun such as plan would normally be preceded by a determiner. So the following is ungrammatical: *Do you have plan?
It seems in the present case, however, that plan and address are being reconceptualised as uncountable ideas rather than as individual examples of a countable entity. This would explain the missing article.
Note that as soon as the plan or address is specified, and is therefore no longer treated as an uncountable concept, the definite article is typically used. Here are a few Google examples:
Hood saw the necessity, and insisted on a change of the plan of attack.
Soon after the resignation of Judge Henderson, a change of the plan upon which the Supreme Court was constituted, began to be discussed.
You only need to notify them of a change of proprietor, if the nature of the business changes, or if there is a change of the address at which moveable premises are kept.
Nothing contained in this shall prevent a registering authority from recording a change of the address of the registered owner on the certificate of registration.
You can place any noun in place of the X.
I need "a change of underwear". He had "a change of prescription drugs". We need "a change of ideology".
In the typical use of that phrase there is a notion of a person or object having only one particular address attribute at a time. Similarly you would be changing from one plan to another plan. So it does make sense that the nouns would be typically singular. (Fatima has offered a counter-example showing that it is not uniformly the case, but I do not think this necessarily invalidates your observation.)
