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Anonymous Posted 10 years ago
Grammar
A man I was living with...
Hi,
I was reading something and wanted to ask. I am a woman and I say:
"A man I was living with at the time was kind."
or
"The man I was living with at the time was kind."
If I say "the" everyone will assume there was only one. If I say "a man", will people assume I was living with several men? Or not a fact?
I was reading something and wanted to ask. I am a woman and I say:
"A man I was living with at the time was kind."
or
"The man I was living with at the time was kind."
If I say "the" everyone will assume there was only one. If I say "a man", will people assume I was living with several men? Or not a fact?
Top answer
Anonymous A man I was living with at the time was kind. Yes, this is close to saying that the kind man was one of the (possibly many) men you were living with at the time. Anonymous The man I was living with at the time was kind.
- Anonymous A man I was living with at the time was kind.
- Yes, this is close to saying that the kind man was one of the (possibly many) men you were living with at the time.
- Anonymous The man I was living with at the time was kind.
- I feel much better now.
- CJ
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6 Answers
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AnonymousA man I was living with at the time was kind.
Yes, this is close to sayi
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CalifJimYes, this is close to saying that the kind man was one of the (possibly many) men you were living with at the time.Ha-ha, thanks . . . so definitely a no-no if there was only one? Or just introduced ambiguity?
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I am not entirely sure I can agree with CJ on this one, even though his responses are normally stellar. Saying "a man" introduces that man. Period. It certainly points to the possibility that there was more than one, but it's not "a fact", as you say. That said, if there was only one, you can just jump straight to the definite article: it eliminates a number of questions that you might have with t
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AnonymousHa-ha, thanks . . . so definitely a no-no if there was only one?Not a definite no-no, but using "a" introduces too many questions that you don't want to answer.
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