Re: 'together vs. to gather'

Yes, number, sorry.

Even in the case of "dust gathered", it looks like it
means: there were several small grains, or
discontinuous (discrete) quantities of dust around,
and they gathered to a sole (continuous) mass. It
seems not possible to "gather together" if what
gathers was not separate, thus plural - or is it ?

In case of the transitive form, the plural would apply
to the object.

So maybe "to gather" would be the bridge leading from
plural to mass ?

--- Andreas Johansson <andjo@...> wrote:
>
> You mean the concept of number, don't you?
>
> I assume you're talking about the intransitive
> versions of those verbs? As
> long as the subject is to be a count noun, the it
> pretty much has to be
> plural, it seems. But if it's mass, then the sg/pl
> contrast is simply
> transcended. "Dust gathered in the unused rooms" or
> whatever.
>
>
>     Andreas

=====
Philippe Caquant

"Le langage est source de malentendus."
(Antoine de Saint-Exupery)

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