“I would like to express a big congratulations...” Why 'a' before ...

congratulation /kənˌɡrætʃuˈleɪʃn/ noun 1 [U] the action of congratulating sb or of being congratulated: a speech of congratulation for the ... EnglishLanguage&UsageStackExchangeisaquestionandanswersiteforlinguists,etymologists,andseriousEnglishlanguageenthusiasts.Itonlytakesaminutetosignup. Signuptojointhiscommunity Anybodycanaskaquestion Anybodycananswer Thebestanswersarevotedupandrisetothetop Home Public Questions Tags Users Unanswered Teams StackOverflowforTeams –Startcollaboratingandsharingorganizationalknowledge. CreateafreeTeam WhyTeams? Teams CreatefreeTeam Teams Q&Aforwork Connectandshareknowledgewithinasinglelocationthatisstructuredandeasytosearch. Learnmore “Iwouldliketoexpressabigcongratulations...”Why‘a’beforethepluralform? AskQuestion Asked 5years,10monthsago Modified 1year,2monthsago Viewed 70ktimes 2 1 AtschoolIwastaughtthatbeforethepluralformwedon'tusethearticlesaandan.Sowhydopeopleuseabeforebigcongratulations? Examples: ABigCongratulationstoDr.WeiChengonHisLatestPublication!link AbigcongratulationstotheDevs! Theyhaveputinanincredibleamountofworkthisweektogetthisonlineupandrunningforallofus.Theyhavehandledcommunicationwiththecommunityperfectlykeepingusuptodate...link Abigcongratulations! Wewouldliketosayamassivecongratulationsto‘Stumble’and‘Tripp’forsuccessfullycompletingafivedayresidentialtobecomequalifiedregionalMakatontrainers!link ABigCongratulations! Furthertoourarticlelastmonth,wewantedtocongratulateJaneMasonandTomWicksontheireffortinNottinghamLifeCycle5.Janeandherteamcompletedher50miles,whileTomfinishedhis75milesintheaidofraisingmoneyfordementiaresearch.link AbigcongratulationstoHozierfromArtistsDenandChaseSapphirePreferredforbeingnominatedfor"FavoriteArtist-AlternativeRock"bytheAmericanMusicAwards.link plusmanymorefoundontheInternet. articlesindefinite-articles Share Improvethisquestion Follow editedJun5,2016at10:50 Mari-LouA 85.2k8383goldbadges291291silverbadges552552bronzebadges askedJun3,2016at19:21 ŁukaszSzkupŁukaszSzkup 9111goldbadge22silverbadges88bronzebadges 8 Redefine"people",IknowofnoEnglish-speakingpersonwhowouldsaythat. – Law29 Jun3,2016at19:30 By"people"Imean471.000resultsinGooglewhenItype"abigcongratulations". – ŁukaszSzkup Jun3,2016at19:33 2 Thenprovidethelink-anddon'tforgetthatGoogleoftengivesresultsthatdonotexactlymatchyourrequestedphrase.E.g.DidGoogleignorethe"a"partofyoursearchterm? – TrevorD Jun3,2016at19:38 Despitewhatyou(thinkyou)foundviaGoogle,theshortansweristhatnobodywhoisspeakingevensemi-grammaticalEnglishwouldsay"abigcongratulations".Ifyouthinkyouhavefoundevidencetothecontrary,pleaseedityourquestionandincludesaidevidence. – Marthaª Jun3,2016at19:45 1 Iwonderifit'stransferredusagefromthephrase"abigthank-you",wherethearticleisnotincorrect. – JPmiaou Jun3,2016at22:20  |  Show3morecomments 5Answers 5 Sortedby: Resettodefault Highestscore(default) Datemodified(newestfirst) Datecreated(oldestfirst) 2 Thetermcongratulationremainsanounwhetheritisusedasaninterjectionornot.Thetermloveintheexclamation,“Loveyou!”isstillaverb,soIcannothelpbutdisagreewith@Spencer'sanalysis However,itisinterestingthatcongratulationsisfarmorecommonthanthesingularcongratulation.TosaytosomeoneCongratulationonyourwedding!wouldbeodd,butifyousendsomeonealetterofcongratulationthatisacceptable. From(myhardcopy)OxfordAdvancedLearnersDictionary congratulation/kənˌɡrætʃuˈleɪʃn/noun1[U]theactionofcongratulatingsborofbeingcongratulated:aspeechofcongratulationforthewinner.2congratulations[pl](a)wordsofcongratulation:offersbone'scongratulationsonhissucess.(b)(alsoinfmlcongrats)(usedasaninterjection):Congratulationsonpassingyourdrivingtest! Mydictionaryalsoinformsmethattheindefinitearticleaisusedwithanabstractuncountablenounwhenitisprecededbyanadjective,e.g.We'relookingforsomeonewithagoodknowledgeofGerman. Consequently,abig(andalsoagreatbig)isoftencollocatedwithwelcome,andthankyou,e.g. Abigwelcometoourspecialguest,... abigthankyoutothehospitalstaff* andthefixedexpressions: agreatmany agoodmany afewpeople areperfectlyidiomaticinEnglish,although‘a’precedesapluralnoun. Ithinknativespeakerswouldsayabigcongratulationifthesingularformwasidiomaticwhencongratulatingsomeone,butit'ssimplynot.Althoughthefollowingarecommonlysaidandheardinspeeches,theydosoundalittleformal. Ourwarmestcongratulations... Myheartiestcongratulationsonyourpromotion Nativespeakersarejustusedtousingthepluralnounform seealso:"Congratulation"vs."congratulations" Share Improvethisanswer Follow editedApr13,2017at12:38 CommunityBot 1 answeredJun5,2016at14:43 Mari-LouAMari-LouA 85.2k8383goldbadges291291silverbadges552552bronzebadges 6 SoIassumethat"abigcongrats"actsthesimilarwayas"abigthankyou"andthe"bigcontracts"isconsideredsingularbecausewethinkofan(one)actofcongratulatingratherthanmanycongratsintheplural. – ŁukaszSzkup Jun7,2016at9:54 @ŁukaszSzkupYes,Iwouldsay"abigcongrats"isanevenmoreinformalwayofcongratulatingsomeone,althoughIdon'tsayitmyself,Idohearcongratsbeingused.Ithinkthe"abig+Noun"isaverycommoncollocation,wehave:"abigroundofapplause","abigthankyou","abigday/deal/hug..."etc.butcongratulation,inthesingularform,isbecomingrareinspeech.Perhapsinwritingitisstillused. – Mari-LouA Jun7,2016at10:22 Isupposeitisaveryinformalwayofsaying"[agood]Manycongratulations" – Mari-LouA Jun7,2016at10:32 ThankyouMari-Lou!SoI'lljuststicktosaying"Bigcongratulations"or"Manycongratulations"(without"a")tobecorrectbothinspeakingandwriting. – ŁukaszSzkup Jun7,2016at10:38 Ifyouwanttoavoidusingtheindefinitearticle,thensayingwarmest/heartiest/manycongratulationswouldbebest. – Mari-LouA Jun7,2016at11:33  |  Show1morecomment 3 JustanotheroneofthosecrazythingstotripoverinEnglish. Iwouldliketoofferabig"Congratulations!"toBillandSasha. Thewordcongratulationshereisn'tanoun;instead,it'saninterjection,madeintoaquotationandthenstuckinasentenceinplaceofanoun. Thespeakerissaying,inaroundaboutway,thathewouldliketosay"Congratulations!".Once.Thusmakingthearticlenecessary. Thespeakercouldhavesaid Abig"Waytogo!"toBillandSasha or,lessawkwardly, IwouldliketooffermycongratulationstoBillandSasha. instead. Share Improvethisanswer Follow answeredJun4,2016at0:12 SpencerSpencer 5,3531818silverbadges3434bronzebadges Addacomment  |  0 Inthiscasesaying"bigcongrats"wouldseemtoindicatethatyouaregivingmultiple"congrats".The"a"beforethephraseshowsthatyougaveexactlyone"bigcongrats",orgavetoldthem"congratulations"inabigwayonlyonce. Share Improvethisanswer Follow answeredJun3,2016at19:41 timthebombtimthebomb 23611silverbadge66bronzebadges 2 Nobodyevergivesanybodya"congratulation".Thatwouldbewaytoostingy.Dittofora"thank". – PeterShor Jun5,2016at12:48 LolwellI'llgiveyouapropforthatcomment.;) – timthebomb Jun5,2016at16:48 Addacomment  |  0 IknowthisisanoldpostbutIjustfacedthissituationofAbeforecongratulationswithS.IgraduatedfromaUSuniversity,receivedaletterfromthedeanwiththatexpression(Iwouldliketopersonallyextendasincerecongratulations),andemailedmyadvisortohavethedean'ssecretaryfixwhatIthoughttobetyposenttohundredsofstudents,ifnotthousandssincetheuniversitystarted.Tomysurprise,thedeanemailedmedirectlyfewminutesagoandstatedthatitwasthecorrectformusedthroughouttheworld... Idon'tdoubtitbutIcouldn'thelplookingitup. PS:IliveintheUSbutamanativeFrenchspeaker. Share Improvethisanswer Follow answeredFeb17,2021at21:12 user414960user414960 1 Addacomment  |  -1 I'manativeEnglishspeaker,andherearemythoughts: ThisexpressionischieflyBritish-Englishand,althoughtechnicallywrong,iscommonlyusedthroughouttheUK.Sadly,therearemanyphrasesweusewhenspeakingthatwouldsoundwrongtosomeonewhoseexpertiseisEnglishasasecondlanguage. Anexampleandfrequentlyusedexpressionisthewordanduseof"sat"insteadof"sitting". WeBritishoftenuse"sat"inthefollowingways,"weweresat","whenyou'resatfortwohoursonahardbench,it'sakiller"or"Iwassatoverthere". Theabovethreeexampleswouldn'tsoundwrongtomostnativeEnglishspeakersbecausethey'reusedinspeechsooftenthattheysoundcorrectwhen,infact,"sitting/wassitting"should'vebeenusedinstead. Share Improvethisanswer Follow answeredOct14,2017at9:41 user261901user261901 1 1 AsanAmerican,IcanassureyouthatthisisnotchieflyBritishEnglish. – Spencer Feb17,2021at22:40 Addacomment  |  YourAnswer ThanksforcontributingananswertoEnglishLanguage&UsageStackExchange!Pleasebesuretoanswerthequestion.Providedetailsandshareyourresearch!Butavoid…Askingforhelp,clarification,orrespondingtootheranswers.Makingstatementsbasedonopinion;backthemupwithreferencesorpersonalexperience.Tolearnmore,seeourtipsonwritinggreatanswers. Draftsaved Draftdiscarded Signuporlogin SignupusingGoogle SignupusingFacebook SignupusingEmailandPassword Submit Postasaguest Name Email Required,butnevershown PostYourAnswer Discard Byclicking“PostYourAnswer”,youagreetoourtermsofservice,privacypolicyandcookiepolicy Nottheansweryou'relookingfor?Browseotherquestionstaggedarticlesindefinite-articlesoraskyourownquestion. FeaturedonMeta HowmighttheStagingGround&thenewAskWizardworkontheStackExchange... 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