 Such tasks often serve two main functions: constructive, and prohibitive. The constructive aspect is the idea that we can (and should) ‘read off’ the correct (or what we think is the correct) ontology from our language use. The prohibitive aspect is the idea that if syntax, semantics, or lexical meaning prohibits (or renders incoherent, or non-well-formed) certain constructions, then we can not (or should not) be ontologically committed to what the impermissible renderings would commit us to. Often the constructive and prohibitive work hand-in-hand, such as we have seen by noting how the fact that ‘wine’ cannot be prefaced with numerals (without referring to kinds) has lead many to think that wine cannot be a thing (prohibitive), and that, since wine exists, and can be measured, that it must be instead stuff (constructive).