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Anonymous Posted 17 years ago
Grammar

Article

"this is a photo of our family"

if a speaker say the above sentence while pointing at speaker's family photo, should this

sentence be " this is 'the' photo of our family?

because a listener also see the picture at the moment.

or still "this is the photo of our family" is wrong?

thanks in advance
  

Top answer

If the speaker is introducing the picture for the first time, he should use 'a'. If they had discussed the picture first, then he's showing it, he should say 'the'. If you use 'the' without prior discussion, it means that is the only picture you have of your family.

— Old Man Gordon

  • If the speaker is introducing the picture for the first time, he should use 'a'.
  • If they had discussed the picture first, then he's showing it, he should say 'the'.
  • If you use 'the' without prior discussion, it means that is the only picture you have of your family.
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1 Answers
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If the speaker is introducing the picture for the first time, he should use 'a'.

If they had discussed the picture first, then he's showing it, he should say 'the'.

If you use 'the' without prior discussion, it means that is the only picture you have of your family.
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