clothse的用法

Q:
posted by mkaya on 11/7 9:41 PM
Can I say "I bought several clothes last week."?
A:
posted by clif on 11/8 11:19 AM
This would not be correct usage. The reason is that the word "clothes" has the connotation of a collection of things, rather than countable things. Thus, you would not use the adjective "several" with it, since several is used with countable things, like: several dresses, several hats, several jackets, etc. --in each of these examples you can easily count the number of dresses or hats or jackets that you have. But the word "clothes" would mean all of your dresses and hats and jackets, etc. ("My clothes are in the bedroom."); or everything that you're wearing ("Those are nice clothes you're wearing."); etc.; and thus it has a singular plural, uncountable quality to it. The way to say this would be: "I bought some clothes last week." The adj. "some" has an indefinite, uncountable quality to it, so it matches the word "clothes," which has that similar uncountable quality.

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Q:
posted by rotcod on 11/12 12:51 AM
Could I use the adjective "a little" with the word "clothes"? Could I say "I bought a little clothes last week." Thank you.

A:
posted by clif on 11/12 8:17 AM
The phrase "a little" would seem to have the same uncountable qualtiy that "clothes" has. For example, you can say: "There's a little water in the container." or "There's some water in the container." However, you can't say: "I bought a little clothes last week." There is seeming no logical reason why you can't say this, but that's just the way it is in the language. This is just one more example of usage that has to be learned through experience with the language.

轉貼自:http://mb.sparknotes.com/mb.epl?b=2437&m=1290084&f=1&t=363872#1290084