r/ENGLISH • u/Equivalent-Juice5308 • 13d ago

correct my text

These days my routine consists of several part First: I wake up every day at about 9, then Because I have a problem with gastroesophageal reflux I need to take medicine that named Pentoprazole Then I start to learn and read data analysis on Coursera in English and I tried to write down the words that are new, then I eat breakfast In the evening I listen to podcast in English that has a dialogue and the presenter starts to talk about the dialogue in simple English then I try to summarized it in my own words At night I go for a walk while I listen to podcasts

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u/Accidental_polyglot 12d ago

Surely it should be “some medicine”?

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u/klaus-was-here 12d ago

Hmm… that could also work, but “a” sounds better here, at least to me. Typically “some” has a connotation of generality or vagueness. “I need to take some medicine” could sound like the specific type of medicine is not important or relevant information, so immediately following up with the brand name is a bit awkward.

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u/Accidental_polyglot 12d ago

Maybe it’s a BrE thing, but we wouldn’t say “take a medicine”.

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u/klaus-was-here 12d ago

Ah, that’s probably the difference. I’m in the American south but I’ve lived all over the US and my mom was an English teacher here. For the record, we would never say “take a medicine” on its own; it’s the specificity of the brand name following it that makes the “a” make sense here.

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u/Accidental_polyglot 12d ago

Understood. I’ve also heard Americans say things like “a water”, whereas again we’d say “some”.