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Deepak chop Posted 10 years ago
Grammar
Articles - please help
My dear teachers: Can you please explain this?
Situation: I saw a crazy woman at a subway station close to work and I want to ask my coworkers if they saw him too, when I come to the office.
"Hello, did you see a crazy woman at the subway station"?
"Hello, did you see the crazy woman at the subway station"?
Or I see a police officer arrest a beggar downstairs outside the office.
"G'morning, did you see see a policeman arrest a beggar?"
"G'morning, did you see see the policeman arrest a beggar?"
"G'morning, did you see see the policeman arrest the beggar?"
I asked in class but did not understand what my teacher explained. If I got it correct, I can use any of the above combinations. It depends on whether I think my coworkers know or might know which crazy woman, policeman, beggar I am referring to. If I think they don't know, "a" is better. If I suspect that they have seen them, "the" is better.
But I am not sure. Is this correct?? Thank you.
Situation: I saw a crazy woman at a subway station close to work and I want to ask my coworkers if they saw him too, when I come to the office.
"Hello, did you see a crazy woman at the subway station"?
"Hello, did you see the crazy woman at the subway station"?
Or I see a police officer arrest a beggar downstairs outside the office.
"G'morning, did you see see a policeman arrest a beggar?"
"G'morning, did you see see the policeman arrest a beggar?"
"G'morning, did you see see the policeman arrest the beggar?"
I asked in class but did not understand what my teacher explained. If I got it correct, I can use any of the above combinations. It depends on whether I think my coworkers know or might know which crazy woman, policeman, beggar I am referring to. If I think they don't know, "a" is better. If I suspect that they have seen them, "the" is better.
But I am not sure. Is this correct?? Thank you.
Top answer
deepak chop Is this correct?? Your explanation is reasonable. In practice, you may find "the" used even when the speaker does not think the listener knows of or has seen the crazy woman, policeman or beggar.
- deepak chop Is this correct??
- Your explanation is reasonable.
- In practice, you may find "the" used even when the speaker does not think the listener knows of or has seen the crazy woman, policeman or beggar.
- " normally has to be known to the listener from the context or from prior knowledge.
- " can be simply "The one at the subway station".
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3 Answers
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deepak chopIs this correct??Your explanation is reasonable.
In practice, you may find "the" used even when the speaker does not think the listener knows of or has seen the crazy woman, policeman or beggar. When we use "the", the answer to the question "Which one?" normally has to be known to the listener from the context or from prior knowledge. Howe
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GPY deepak chopIs this correct??Your explanation is reasonable.In practice, you may find "the" used even when the speaker does not think the listener knows of or has seen the crazy woman, policeman or beggar. When we use "the", the answer to the question "Which one?" normally has to be known to the listener from the context or from prior knowledge. However, when you ask "
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deepak chop"Hello, did you see the crazy woman at the subway station"?This implies that I saw a crazy woman, and that is the woman I am asking you about.
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