Articles: He picked up the wrong key / He took the wrong road
Hello.
I found in the dictionary a few sample sentences with the word 'wrong':
1) He picked up the wrong key.
2) He took the wrong road.
3) She was the wrong woman for you.
Why in such sentences do we use the definite article instead of indefinite?
Usually there are more wrong choices than good ones. For example let's have a look at the first sentence. In a bunch of keys there is just one correct key to a given lock, while there are many wrong ones, which to me suggests that we should say:
1b) He picked up the correct key. (the only one is correct and this one was picked up)
1c) He picked up a wrong key. (many keys are wrong and one of them was picked up)
Top answer
Hi Reegis I have wondered about this all my life and it has been discussed on this forum before. I have seen an argument from a native speaker that the definite article is correct and logical in examples like yours. My logic doesn't understand such reasoning at all, though.
- Hi Reegis I have wondered about this all my life and it has been discussed on this forum before.
- I have seen an argument from a native speaker that the definite article is correct and logical in examples like yours.
- My logic doesn't understand such reasoning at all, though.
- I tend to think that for some inexplicable reason the definite article is used with wrong in most cases in idiomatic English.
- My ear has got used to it, and it doesn't bother me any more the way it used to when I was young.
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Hi Reegis
I have wondered about this all my life and it has been discussed on this forum before. I have seen an argument from a native speaker that the definite article is correct and logical in examples like yours. My logic doesn't understand such reasoning at all, though. I tend to think that for some inexplicable reason the definite article is used with wrong in most cases in i
0We usually use the definite article, but not always.
They took a wrong turn. That's why they were late. (There were many turns along the way. We don't know where they got off track.)In your examples, we know which key, woman, and road were involved.
0
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