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Audio: Relief 幾種用法
A Q&A programme about the word 'relief'.
"I am Li Bin and my question is the usage of relief. E.g. "It was a relief to be able to talk to someone about it". The problem is 'relief' is an uncountable noun, so why there is an 'a' before it?"
Li Bin
The word 'relief' is uncountable, but it is also possible to use it as a countable noun. You may hear the expression "Oh what a relief!"
In this case, it is only used in the singular form: there is no plural version of it.
Here 'relief' refers to a feeling of comfort when something frightening or worrying is about to happen but then doesn't. Perhaps you thought you had a serious illness but then found out you didn't - what a relief!
The same thing happens with the normally uncountable nouns 'pity' and 'shame'.
What a pity!
What a shame!
Listen and find out more about the word 'relief'.
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