a / the

Question

Hi !I'm not native speaker and so I had complications with using articles. It's a pity, I can't get some rules. Help me please)The rules:a)we use a/an when the listener doesn't know which thing we mean. We use the when it is clear which thing we mean.b)We use the when it is clear in the situation which thing or person we meanHere are three examples ( Merphy,"English Grammar In Use"):1)We went for a meal last night. THE restaraunt we went to was excellent.2)It was warm and sunny so we dicided to sit in THE garden.3)I went into the shop and asked to speak to THE manager.Can anybody explain me WHY that (capital) articles were used in that sentences ?Is it clear enough in all that sentences  what particular resteraunt/garden/manager was meant ?

BarbaraPA · Accepted Answer

The person telling the story went to a particular restaurant. The person hearing the story may or may not have ever been to, seen, or heard of this restaurant before, but there is only one restaurant on the entire planet that the person telling the story went to last night. It's unique. That's why the speaker used "the."

The speaker assumes the listener knows which garden is meant. The one outside his house or outside his hotel - whatever it is, they share a frame of reference and it's clear which one is meant.

The last one assumes that the shop has only one manager. Whatever shop it was (the listener is assumed to know, because the speaker says "the shop"), it has one person of all the people on this planet who is the manager. (In my experience, shops often have more than one manager, so "a manager" would have worked here, but if this shop has only one, then "the manager" is right.)

Nelly Boichenco · Answer

Thank you for the answer.

I understood that in the first sentence (about restaurant) the speaker used "the" because it was unique restaurant (in particular sense).
Is it important that information (about meal last night) was given in the sentence before? Will it be possible to use "the" if I use one sentence instead of two? Will it be still unique restaurant if I give less information? For example, can it be said:

0)We went for a meal last night and the restaraunt we went to was excellent.
1) We went for a meal last night in the excellent restaurant.
2) We went for a meal last night in the restaurant.
3) We went for a meal in the excellent restaurant.
4) We went for a meal in the restaurant.

P.S. Sorry for missprint in word "restaurant"

Ozzourti · Answer

It's possible, of course, to say "We went to a restaurant" even if the speaker technically knows which restaurant it was (but the listener presumably doesn't). You're telling the listener that you went to some restaurant, but from now on, you'll need 'the' every time you mention it again in the same conversation.

We went to a restaurant for a meal last night. The restaurant we went to was excellent.

Nelly Boichenco · Answer

Thank you a lot for the answer.

In this case"a" and "the " are possible, but "the restaurant" gives an additional information (about meal last night ). Did i understand you correctly?
Can I do the same with the sentence about a garden ? (see below)

_It was warm and sunny so we dicided to sit in a garden. The garden was outside his house. _

Can I say :
1)We went for a meal last night. *A* restaurant we went to was excellent.
(Here "restaurant" and "meal" are in two different sentences.)
2)We went to the restaurant for a meal last night. The restaurant we went to was excellent.
(Here "the restaurant" and "meal" are in one sentence. ) ?

BarbaraPA · Answer

Nelly BoichencoCan I say :
1)We went for a meal last night. *A* restaurant we went to was excellent. No. There was only one restaurant you went to. Use "the."
(Here "restaurant" and "meal" are in two different sentences.)
2)We went to the restaurant for a meal last night. The restaurant we went to was excellent.
(Here "the restaurant" and "meal" are in one sentence. ) ? The red "the" is wrong, unless there is only one possible restaurant. For example, you could be at a hotel in the middle of nowhere, and the hotel has a restaurant. It's the only restaurant in town, so it's "the" restaurant.

CalifJim · Answer

Nelly BoichencoWe use the when it is clear in the situation which thing or person we mean.

1) We went for a meal last night. THE restaurant we went to was excellent.
Background assumption: When we go out for a meal, we go to one restaurant.
That's the restaurant we are referring to. (the one restaurant that we had a meal at)
[ "a restaurant" would mean "one of (any number of) restaurants (anywhere in the world)", and that doesn't match the background assumption.]

2) It was warm and sunny so we decided to sit in THE garden.
Background assumption: We have a garden, and we have only one garden. The garden is our garden. When we sit in a garden, we sit in our garden.
That's the garden we are referring to. (the one garden that we have; the one garden that we sit in)
["a garden" would mean "one of (any number of) gardens (anywhere in the world)", and that doesn't match the background assumption.]

3) I went into the shop and asked to speak to THE manager.
Background assumption: There is only one manager at each shop.
That's the manager I am referring to. (the one manager at the shop that I went into)
["a manager" would mean "one of (any number of) managers (anywhere in the world)", and that doesn't match the background assumption.]
________________

You may have noticed in the examples above that the use of "the" ties the noun reference to the story being told. Using "a" instead of "the" makes the reference so general that it takes you outside of the story completely.

If I'm talking about taking a ride in a taxi and I say "the driver", I mean the driver of the taxi in my story. If I make a mistake and say "a driver", I mean any driver of any taxi anywhere in the world, which has nothing to do with my story about taking a ride in a taxi.

If I'm talking about attending a class and I say "the teacher", I mean the teacher of the class in my story. If I make a mistake and say "a teacher", I mean any teacher of any class anywhere in the world, which has nothing to do with my story about attending a class.

If I'm talking about losing my key and I say that I couldn't open "the door", I mean the door that can be opened with the key I lost. If I make a mistake and say that I couldn't open "a door", I mean any door in the world, and that has nothing to do with my story about losing my key.

CJ

Nelly Boichenco · Answer

Thank you a lot.
I even began to understand the rule.)

But still I have two more questions.

This sentence is correct(see below)
We went to a restaurant a for a meal last night. (some restaurant. ; Thank you, BarbaraPA, for explaining.)

1) If I will swap purpose (to get some meal) and time (last night) will it be still correct?
We went for a meal last night to a restaurant.
2) Will it be possible to say (see below)?
We went for a meal last night to the restaurant. ( Was it implied that we were in "one particular restaurant" yesterday ? Was "the" used right? )

CalifJim · Answer

Nelly Boichenco1) If I ~~will~~ swap purpose (to get some meal) and time (last night) will it be still correct?We went for a meal last night to a restaurant.

It will be correct, but not as idiomatic. In English the normal order is to talk about the place first, then the time.

We will be at home tomorrow.
They traveled to Chicago last month.
Bill expects to be at a concert at 8 o'clock this evening.

The best order for this sentence, in my opinion, is We went to a restaurant for a meal last night.
________________

Nelly Boichenco2) ~~Will~~ Would it be possible to say ... We went for a meal last night to the restaurant. ( Was it implied that we were in "one particular restaurant" yesterday ? Was "the" used right? )

As explained above, first of all you need to change the word order.

We went to the restaurant for a meal last night.

This is a correct sentence. Only one specific restaurant is referred to. Use this sentence when the person you are talking to knows which restaurant you are talking about. He may know because one of you has already mentioned it or because it's known that this restaurant is the only restaurant that you ever go to. It doesn't matter how he knows which restaurant you're talking about, but you are assuming he knows if you say "the restaurant".

Whenever you use an expression like "the restaurant", "the car", "the spoon", and so on, and you are asked "which restaurant?", "which car?", "which spoon?", then you have made a mistake. That's why you can very seldom start a conversation with definite expressions like "the car", and so on. You have to establish the existence of a certain car first. Then you can talk about that car as "the car".

We don't use "the" unless we are pretty sure that the listener already knows "which".

CJ

Nelly Boichenco · Answer

Thank you for the clarification.

I have finally understood that rule. Here are two main ideas that helped me. I hope that my formulation may help someone else (And I belive that my formulation is right. ) )
1) The use of "the" ties the noun reference to the story being told. (Thank you, CalifJim)
We use"the" before noun Even if it was not mentiontd itself .
Example : We went for a meal last night.The restaurant we went to was excellent.
Here the word "restaurant" was not mentioned before, but the only one restaurant was excellent last night (and we were there). ( And a conversation is not only reciting some facts. So we use "the".)

2) We can use "the" with noun only after some sentence, that gives an information about that noun.
It is not posibble to use "The" in the same senttence, where information about noun was given.
(It is possible only if the noun is unique.)

Example: We went to a restaurant for a meal last night. The restaurant we went to was excellent.

P.S. Thank you, CalifJim, for other corrections .

BarbaraPA · Answer

No, that's not right yet.

There are MANY excellent restaurants.
But there is only ONLY restaurant that you went to last night. That is "THE" restaurant you are talking about.

You can use "the" in the same sentence where you give the information.

The restaurant we went to last night was great.

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