10:10 Jul 31, 2011 

Thanks Michael, eski, clain, Jack, Thuy-PTT, Phong Le, amarpaul for the confirmation!

10:07 Jul 31, 2011 

Thanks for your input - very helpful.

08:31 Jul 25, 2011 

all you would ever care to know about Parking:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parking

05:48 Jul 25, 2011 

it reminds me of French, actually "le parking" meaning a car park. Otherwise I agree with what has been said before.

02:30 Jul 25, 2011 

That gave me an idea for Google. I think the rag bag of results confirms what you say - mainly non-native English speakers (quite a few Spanish) and uncaring Web users.

http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&lr=&safe=off&q="b...

01:11 Jul 25, 2011 

I believe most of the discussion below could be summarised as follows:

"Parking" is an uncountable noun, so we can refer to THE "Parking", but not A "Parking".

And easy to check; can we talk about two or three "parkings"...? no, didn't think so.

So "a parking" (space/lot/zone) is just Spanish. The same as they use "a living"(room), a "smoking"(jacket), a "training"(session), the latter apparently having gained currency amongst those who have stopped caring ;-)

22:27 Jul 24, 2011 

Also, I can't think of any case in which one would say "a parking" on its own, without specifying "a parking lot," "a parking space," etc.

22:25 Jul 24, 2011 

I agree with all comments made by Stephanie. As a native speaker of U.S. English, I have never heard the word "parking" to mean "an area of turf in front of a building or down the centre of a street."

22:15 Jul 24, 2011 

Parking as a noun. Take three, so to speak. There is also the parking (not a parking). Where is the parking for the festival? Is there a lot or do we have to park on the street? or: There is parking ono the lawn for the event. The parking for the event is on the lawn, there were will be someone there directing traffic. However, to my knowledge, parking on turf/lawn is the exception never the rule -- and it occurs for special events where there is not enought paved parking available.

22:02 Jul 24, 2011 

I really think that the older sense of "parking" means "park" as in grass and trees. I'm sure I'd have heard it used as a carpark / parking lot by now in all my reading, work and experience and I can honestly say I haven't!

21:59 Jul 24, 2011 

The OED gives the sense of a grass strip e.g.
"The poles in the parking should be set next to the walks and painted green."

But I get the impression that this sense is now dated?

The sense of "the action of parking" is, of course, current.

21:55 Jul 24, 2011 

But, there is parking as a noun (without the article). I drove around the block lookin for parking. There is parking in front of my building, you don't have look for a lot.

21:53 Jul 24, 2011 

I have a suggestion (but not a full sentence) which originated from a native Spanish speaker who has spent time in the States. So while I doubted it, I felt the need to verify!

21:50 Jul 24, 2011 

In the US English, you find, as Michael said, a parking space, or a parking spot - but not a parking. Parking is used as an adjective not a noun. You also have a parking area. If you have a sentence in US English with "a parking" as a noun, I'd love to see it. Video games and text messaging are changing the language is some strange ways that I don't keep up with.

21:47 Jul 24, 2011 

As I've added to my answer, I work in AmE as well as BrE, even though located in the UK, and I've not heard it in either - and Michael confirms it's not US useage as well.

21:44 Jul 24, 2011 

No, it's certainly not possible in UK English, that sense of the noun "a parking" is a purely US one. And I don't think they would use it in the way I mention - but I want to check. Any American 10-year old could tell I'm sure :-)