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Vincent Teo Posted 16 years ago
Grammar

A / the

Can I say,

(a) This is the young duckling.

(b) This is a young duckling.

(c) There is a the duckling.
  

Top answer

Hi, Can I say, (a) This is the young duckling. Yes, if you already mentioned the duckling. (b) This is a young duckling.

— Clive

  • Hi, Can I say, (a) This is the young duckling.
  • Yes, if you already mentioned the duckling.
  • (b) This is a young duckling.
  • Yes, if you didnt mention it already.
  • (c) There is a the duckling.
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3 Answers
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Hi,

Can I say,

(a) This is the young duckling. Yes, if you already mentioned the duckling.

(b) This is a young duckling. Yes, if you didnt mention it already.

(c) There is a the duckling. No, incorrect grammar.



Do you need to say 'young'? Aren't all ducklings young?



Clive
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Hi,

I would say that (a) and (b) are okay. But I am not so sure about (c) as the determiners 'a' and 'the' are never used in such a way. 'The' and 'a' each have separate meanings, which are 'the one(s) you know' and 'the one(s) you don't know' respectively. Combining them in this way would therefore not be very logical in my opinion.

Kind regards,

Dokterjokkebrok
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CliveDo you need to say 'young'? Aren't all ducklings young?
Couldn't it perhaps be considered to be a form of tautology? For example, if you wanted to express that the duckling had been born only two minutes ago?

Dokterjokkebrok
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