Article the/a

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Hi there,The usage of article is always confusing for me and it also involves to think it should be sigular or plural.For example like the sentence above,[The/(nothing)] usage of [the/an/(nothing)] [article/articles] is always confusing for me.I guess the correct way to say is, "The usage of article is always confusing for me." But I'm not sure.Another example,Are you shopping for a health club to join so you can get in shape? Shop wisely! You could end up choosing [a/the] wrong club and losing more money than pounds. There might be [a/the] good one always. There might be [a/the] wrong one always.If the second sentence is "the wrong club," then is it ok to say "there might be the wrong one always." But it doesn't sound right to me. "There might be a wrong one always," sounds better to me. Then I don't quite get why it is said "You could end up choosing the wrong club...." I hope you get what I'm confused about. Any clear explanation would be appreciated.

Maiagarri · Accepted Answer

"The usage of articles is always confusing for me."
Use plurals when stating a general statement, like: I love apples. We do not say, I love apple.

The wrong club. - is correct. We use "the" because among the many clubs there is one wrong club for you. (or something like that)
I think the last two sentences should be: "There's always a good one. There's always a bad one." in this case, we use 'a' because we are not talking in the context of the customer who is looking for a club. There is a bad club out there and there is a good club, but we don't know which. Make sure you find the right one.

Goxu · Answer

hmmmm, thanks maiagarri, for the reply and correcting my English. It seems your explanation is very clear. But I quite don't get and even I don't know why.

maiagarriWe use "the" because among the many clubs there is one wrong club for you.

What about this sentence,
There's always a bad one for me.
Here also, it is among the many clubs there is one wrong club for the person but the sentence uses a.

What about this case,
You can chose a wrong club and losing more maney than pounds.
It sounds right to me. Do you preffer using the here too?

Also I realized the possibilies to say,
Usages of articles are always confusing for me.
A usage of articles is always confusing for me.
Are these also ok to say?

CalifJim · Answer

The usage of articles is always confusing for me.
(Presumably you have trouble with all of them. Use the plural.)

You could end up choosing the wrong club and losing more money than pounds.
__________________

The following is not at all idiomatic English. What are you trying to say? Can you say it a different way or explain what you mean?

There might be [a/the] good one always. There might be [a/the] wrong one always.

You can always find a good club, but you might find a bad one. Is that what you mean?
__________________

Regarding "the wrong ...", see also .

CJ

Goxu · Answer

Hi CalifJim, thanks for the reply.

CalifJimThe usage of articles is always confusing for me.
(Presumably you have trouble with all of them. Use the plural.)

You could end up choosing the wrong club and losing more money than pounds.

maiagarri has already corrected my sentences and we are moving on to further questions, just in case you did not notice

CalifJimThe following is not at all idiomatic English. What are you trying to say? Can you say it a different way or explain what you mean?

There might be [a/the] good one always. There might be [a/the] wrong one always.

You can always find a good club, but you might find a bad one. Is that what you mean?

Let me see, I meant something like the following.
He had a question and was looking for an answer. He remembered his teacher once taught him there is always a bad answer and a good answer.

So I kind of arranged it to,
There might be always a bad one.
Please forget it, if it does not make sense and let's move on to the next questions I posted on my second post.

Goxu · Answer

Hello, I ran into another confusion.

The baby started to walk.
A: It was a totally new experience for her.
B: It was the totally new experience for her.
C: It was a first experiecnce for her.
D: It was the first experience for her.

I guess you don't say C (I'm not sure). If A is ok, then why C is not ok?

CalifJim · Answer

The baby started to walk.
A: It was a totally new experience for her. Good.
B: ~~It was the totally new experience for her.~~ Not good.
C: It was a first experiecnce for her. Possible. Requires more contextualization.
D: It was the first experience for her. Possible. Requires more contextualization.

More idiomatically,

C: It was a first for her. (It was one more thing that she did for the first time. There are also other firsts: the first time she says "Mama", the first time she falls, the first time she skips rope, ...)

D. is not likely as it stands. Babies have many more experiences than starting to walk. The real "first experience for her" was probably being born.

More idiomatically,

It was the first time she walked without help.
It was her first experience of walking.

CJ

Goxu · Answer

This is very interesting and also confusing.

CalifJimThe baby started to walk.
A: It was a totally new experience for her. Good.
B: It was the totally new experience for her. Not good.
C: It was a first experiecnce for her. Possible. Requires more contextualization.
D: It was the first experience for her. Possible. Requires more contextualization.

I expected D was the most likely and C was not acceptable since I learned in ESL classes that the word "first" always follows "the," similar to what you described in the link: "the wrong," "the same," and, "the right."

And I thought B doesn't have any problems at all. The relationship between the context is pretty much like,

He had an apple and put the fruit on the table.

Here, among other kinds of fruits, the word "the" specifies the apple he was holding. Similarly,

The baby started to walk and it was the new experience for her.

Among other kinds of experiences, doesn't the "the" specify it as walking?

CalifJim · Answer

goxuThis is very interesting and also confusing.

That's not surprising. English can be both interesting and confusing!

goxuI learned in ESL classes that the word "first" always follows "the"

It normally does. The situations that your ESL classes were talking about are those in which "first" is an adjective. This is a special case of using "first" as a countable noun.

goxuAnd I thought B doesn't have any problems at all. The relationship between the context is pretty much like,
He had an apple and put the fruit on the table.
Here, among other kinds of fruits, the word "the" specifies the apple he was holding. Similarly,
The baby started to walk and it was the new experience for her.
Among other kinds of experiences, doesn't the "the" specify it as walking?

This is somewhat difficult material, as you already know. Let's try to show it like this:

The baby started to walk. The experience (of walking) was a (totally)new experience for her.

new experiences: [ P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z] (W = the walking experience)

The experience of walking ^ (I say which experience: W.)
belongs to the set of new experiences,
so it is one of them; it is a new experience (among many possible experiences).

So: It (the experience of walking) was a totally new experience for her (one of many possible totally new experiences).

(The example with the apple is not a good analogy for this grammatical pattern.)

CJ

Goxu · Answer

CalifJimThe baby started to walk. The experience (of walking) was a (totally)new experience for her.

new experiences: [ P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z] (W = the walking experience)
The experience of walking ^ (I say which experience: W.)
belongs to the set of new experiences,
so it is one of them; it is a new experience (among many possible experiences).

So: It (the experience of walking) was a totally new experience for her (one of many possible totally new experiences).

I might be getting at it.

A: She picked up an apple and it was a totally new fruit for her.
B: She picked up an apple and it was the totally new fruit for her.

So you don't say B, do you?

Regarding the usage of the word "first,"

Assuming he is a project manager of a film production and has several jobs that have to get done, it does not matter which one to start from. He cannot make up his mind.

He is planning on a first project of his pohotoshoot.
He is planning on the first project of his photoshoot.

I guess the both are ok, aren't they?

CalifJim · Answer

goxuI might be getting at it.
A: She picked up an apple and it was a totally new fruit for her.
B: She picked up an apple and it was the totally new fruit for her.
So you don't say B, do you?

That's exactly right. We don't say B. You are getting it.

goxuRegarding the usage of the word "first,"
Assuming he is a project manager of a film production and has several jobs that have to get done, it does not matter which one to start from. He cannot make up his mind.
He is planning on a first project of his pohotoshoot.
He is planning on the first project of his photoshoot.
I guess the both are ok, aren't they?

No. first refers to a particular one in a possible series of photoshoots. We know which one. Whenever you know which one, it's the.

[first, second, third, ...] < different photoshoots

^ <<<We are talking about this one. the first.
________________

On the other hand, suppose that this photoshoot is the first that he has ever done. We can then describe it as a first in his life. He may have many firsts in his life.

[first photoshoot, first job, first kiss, first trip to London, ...] < different firsts in this person's life

The first photoshoot belongs to the set of firsts, so it is a first for him.

Note how the subject gets "the", and the complement gets "a":

The first photoshoot that he ever does in his life is a first for him.
The first trip to London that he takes in his life is a first for him.
...

the in the subject tells us which photoshoot or trip we are talking about. We select one of the firsts from the set of all firsts. By saying the we show that we are talking about a specific case from the larger set -- the case that we have chosen to talk about.

a in the complement tells us "belongs in this set of things". We don't select a particular element from the entire set. We use the set as a reference point to say that this selected thing (with the) belongs to that set. We specify the set from which we chose something.
_________________________

See if you can understand the use of the and a in the following sentences, which have the same grammatical pattern.

The number 5 is an integer.
The number 3.1416 is not an integer.

The gift that I gave him was a gold clock.
The thing that Larry wants is a blue raincoat.
The essay that he wrote was a criticism of modern music.
The woman he went to the concert with was an old friend.
___________

Note that a firstis not common. It is not very often that you will ever need to use that expression. Don't beat yourself up if it doesn't make sense to you. There are many other expressions that are more important to learn.

CJ

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