Articles: Scientists can follow a/the whale's migration route thanks to a/the radiotransmitter fixed to an/the animal's back.

Question

Hello,let's say I would like to make a general statement like:Scientists can follow a/the whale's migration route thanks to a/the radiotransmitter fixed to an/the animal's back.1) Should I use a/an or the before whale, animal and radiotransmitter?I am not referring to any particular/known whale or radiotransmitter, so I am inclined to say a whale, a radiotransmitter, and then the animal (because now I am referring to the previously mentioned whale).2) Apart from the articles, is this sentence correct?Thanks for your help.

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

Reegis1) Should I use a/an or the before whale, animal and radiotransmitter?I am not referring to any particular/known whale or radiotransmitter,

Yes.

Reegis I am inclined to say a whale, a radiotransmitter, and then the animal (because now I am referring to the previously mentioned whale).

Right.

Reegis2) Apart from the articles, is this sentence correct?

Yes.

Reegis · Answer

Thanks Mister Micawber.

Let me add that the original sentence is:
Scientists can follow the whale's migration route thanks to the radiotransmitter fixed to the animal's back.
And is taken from my program to learn English (which a few times turned out to have wrong sentences).
Do you have any idea in which context such a sentence can be regarded as grammatically correct? One thing that comes to my mind is that maybe in some scientific literature?

I have just found here http://www.grammar-quizzes.com/article1c.html:

In scholarly writng and encyclopedias, the article the before a noun expresses a class. (Classifications are found in studies of biology, architecture, cooking, clothing , cinema, and other subjects.) "This is true of all members of the class."

Which means that I can say:
a) The lion sleeps much of the day.
b) A lion sleeps much of the day.
And both are correct, the first one is just more encyclopedic.
But I am not sure if this reasoning can be applied here and defend this sentence.

Mister Micawber · Answer

Reegis the original sentence is:Scientists can follow the whale's migration route thanks to the radiotransmitter fixed to the animal's back.And is taken from my program to learn English (which a few times turned out to have wrong sentences).Do you have any idea in which context such a sentence can be regarded as grammatically correct?

Presumably the topic was already under discussion or accompanied graphics of a whale with a transmitter.

ReegisIn scholarly writng and encyclopedias, the article the before a noun expresses a class."Which means that I can say:a) The lion sleeps much of the day.b) A lion sleeps much of the day.And both are correct, the first one is just more encyclopedic.But I am not sure if this reasoning can be applied here and defend this sentence.

The rule is right, but it does not apply to the transmitter, so it probably does not apply to the whale, either.

Reegis · Answer

Thanks for the additional explanation.

Articles: Scientists can follow a/the whale's migration route thanks to a/the radiotransmitter fixed to an/the animal's back.

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