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Jigneshbharati Posted 10 years ago
Grammar

An apple, the doctor

An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
Please explain the use of "an" and "the" before "apple" and "doctor"?
  

Top answer

An apple = any kind of apple — a red delicious, a pippin, a granny smith, a golden delicious, a rome, gala, etc. etc. — or one apple.

— AlpheccaStars

  • An apple = any kind of apple — a red delicious, a pippin, a granny smith, a golden delicious, a rome, gala, etc.
  • etc.
  • — or one apple.
  • The doctor = your regular physician, the one you go to for annual check-ups
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5 Answers
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An apple = any kind of apple — a red delicious, a pippin, a granny smith, a golden delicious, a rome, gala, etc. etc. — or one apple.
The doctor = your regular physician, the one you go to for annual check-ups
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JigneshbharatiAn apple a day keeps the doctor away.
An apple every eight hours keeps three doctors away.
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Thanks so here the doctor means specific doctor - your doctor not any other doctor.
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JigneshbharatiThanks so here the doctor means specific doctor - your doctor not any other doctor.
Not necessarily. We often think of 'the doctor' as an institution rather than a person in British English. If I feel unwell, I am as likely to say 'I must go to the doctor' as 'I must go to a doctor', even if I have no idea which doctor I will go to,
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