Incohérence/mail

Incohérence/mail
Message de skyly posté le 25-10-2013 à 16:51:49 (S | E | F)
Bonjour.

Une question d'un QCM me pose quelques problèmes... Pourriez-vous m'aider ?
Voici la question :
They received ... mail that they could not process it all.
1) so many
2) so much
3) too many
4) too much
La correction m'indique que la bonne réponse est "so much", et je ne comprends pas... Les mails étant dénombrables, ne faut-il pas employer "so many" ?
Merci d'avance, bonne journée.

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Modifié par lucile83 le 25-10-2013 17:08

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Réponse: Incohérence/mail de lucile83, postée le 25-10-2013 à 17:11:39 (S | E)
Hello,

They received ... mail that they could not process it all.
Mail est au singulier car ici le mot est pris au sens de courrier.
S'il avait été pris au sens de lettres/mails il aurait pris un 's' = mails.
Il est donc correct ici d'employer 'so much'.
Hope this helps.

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Réponse: Incohérence/mail de simplicius, postée le 25-10-2013 à 18:21:43 (S | E)
Hello,
Normally the word mail is uncountable. So, you shouldn't say I have many mails, I have three mails, but rather, I have a lot of mail, I have some mail, I have too much mail... And if you want to refer to a letter, or a parcel you received by mail, it's a piece of mail.

However, the comparatively recent word e-mail is also used as a countable word. I have sent three e-mails. I receive too many e-mails. And since it is often reduced to mail, you can say I have sent three mails (meaning trois messages électroniques). But you can also use it as an uncountable word, just as if it were traditional mail. I think it's more correct. But probably nobody cares.

Cheers, S.

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