In Wren & Martin's solutions, the above sentence has lie as an abstract noun. However, I think it should be a common noun. Can there ever by abstract nouns which are also common nouns? I know abstract nouns can be taken from common nouns, for example, how slave turns into slavery and child into childhood.
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3'Common nouns' are complementary to 'proper nouns', not 'abstract nouns'. // Some people still hold with a black-and-white concrete / abstract partition, but others consider this analysis far too simplistic. In 'tell the truth', few would argue that 'truth' was a count noun or concrete noun. But in 'tell a lie', the situation is far less clear. One can certainly use 'He actually told three lies', but that doesn't guarantee that 'He tells lies' is a count usage. Often, it's best to regard some of these expressions as fixed phrases. And that really undermines a concrete-noun analysis.– Edwin AshworthCommented May 29, 2018 at 8:35
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Uh, the Washington Post is keeping a running tally of 45’s lies, now numbering in the thousands. There's your guarantee. washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2018/01/10/…– KarlGCommented May 29, 2018 at 9:53
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The answer is probably that W&M made a mistake in their classification. Although, since Ive never read the book, I don't know their classification system. I would classify a lie there as a generic noun phrase rather than an existential noun phrase.– Arm the good guys in AmericaCommented May 29, 2018 at 19:56
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The washington post cannot solve literature problems. That is for people who can actually speak sense– William PennantiCommented Aug 29, 2018 at 11:35
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1 Answer
A lie is the concept of not telling the truth (as apposed to an object). Therefore, lie in that context is an abstract noun.
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2Hello, William. The polysemy of 'lie' is certainly involved here, but ELU requires more logically argued answers containing authoritative references. Commented May 29, 2018 at 8:36
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Thank you for this answer. This explains it very clearly. Now I understand why lie is an abstract noun. Commented Jul 11, 2018 at 18:50
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