advertising/advertisement

mfung · Post by **mfung** » Mon Nov 29, 2004 2:14 pm

What is the difference between these two sentences:

1.The advertising of tobacco is outlawed.
2.The advertisement of tobacco is outlawed.

Alan · Post by **Alan** » Tue Nov 30, 2004 1:16 pm

Only #1 is grammatical, although the use of 'outlawed' is unnatural: 'illegal' would be the normal term.

mfung · Post by **mfung** » Tue Nov 30, 2004 6:17 pm

Could you explain why no.2 is not grammatical

Alan · Post by **Alan** » Thu Dec 02, 2004 3:42 am

In retrospect, 'ungrammatical' was probably slightly too harsh a judgement, but it's certainly unnatural: we don't normally use 'advertisement' as a dynamic noun (i.e. denoting the act of advertising - the intended meaning here) because of the existence of the gerund 'advertising'.