An English grammar question.?

Question

China has grasped various key techniques in manufacturing mid-and-low speed maglev (train).
Is the "train" should be"trains" or add "a" after "manufacturing"?
I really find it difficult to use articles properly when learning English? Could you give me some advices? Thank you very much!

Answer 1

China has grasped various key techniques in manufacturing mid-and-low speed maglev trains.

Answer 2

Other people have pointed out your singular/ plural.
Probably 'trains' unless you are talking about different kinds. What is a 'maglev,' and if it is a foreign word why are you using it? Change from "china has grasped etc" to "China manufactures" because you are currently implying that
a - China no longer 'grasps' these ideas
b - If you don't understand (key) = important techniques you sure as hell won't be manufacturing anything, so the whole phrase is ridiculous.

Is this a paper on Chinese manufacturing? Try 'For the past few decades China has manufactured --- trains; however, the new --- model mark a turning point in production.' Or some such. I know if English is not a first language that you are concerned with how you sound (eg you want to sound 'smart'). Just remember that there is nothing wrong with using simple sentences. Trust me, your teacher will prefer a simple paper than one full of grammatical knots like this.

Answer 3

China has grasped various key techniques in manufacturing mid-and-low maglev trains. You're talking about those specific kind of trains as a whole so you use "trains"...if you were talking about one train then you would use "a"...but in this case, it is "trains".

Answer 4

If you put the 'a' after manufacturing, than you won't need to pluralize train. Or you can add the 's' to train and leave the 'a' out. Also leave the 's' off of advices next time.

Answer 5

Maglev is singular. So I'm assuming that (train) should stay the way it is and you should add an ''a'' after manufacturing.

Also, advice is always singular ''some advice''.

Other than that... Great Job!! I know that learning english can be difficult.

Answer 6

Article is used before countable nouns. A is used a countable noun beginning with consonant sound and an is used a countable noun beginning with vowel sound. The is difinite article. It is used before a noun you want to mean.
You may use a mid-and low-speed maglev (train) when you mean in general. If you want to refer what you want, you must use "the".
For example, When does "the" train arrive? "A" train will arrive soon.
"the" means a train you mean. "a" means a train you don't mean.

Answer 7

It really depends on what you mean. If you mean they have been successful in manufacturing one of each type, then inserting "a" after manufacturing would be correct. But if you mean a variety of each type, then "trains" would be correct. I would think you probably mean "trains". Oh, by the way, the plural of "advice" is still "advice". So you should have said," Could you please give me some advice".

It's very confusing isn't it! Good luck,

Andy.

Answer 8

Both are correct, depending on the meaning of the sentence.

English is confusing because so many different languages have contributed to its existence. Each of these contributing languages brings with it its own rules of grammar, word order, spelling, etc. Often these rules conflict with one another.

Regarding the use of articles, "The" usually refers to a specific thing. "A" or "An" usually indicate indefinite things.

"A" is used before a word beginning with a consonant. "An" is used before a word that begins with a vowel.

Answer 9

It would be "a mid-and-low speed train" if you mean one train.
It would be "mid-and-low speed trains" if you meant more than one train.